Protector
by Raven06
Summary: IronhidexOC Ironhide is assigned to watch over Sam and Bee during the school year to make sure the school wont be targeted by the remaining Decepticon’s. What will happen when he meets a girl having bullying problems?
1. Meetings

**Protector pt I**

Ironhide had been sitting outside Sam's High School for almost seven hours now and the weapons specialist didn't know how much more torture he could take. Sure Bumblebee was there with him but its not like the two of them could talk or anything. Optimus had instructed Ironhide to accompany Bumblebee to Sam's school for awhile, until they were sure that the Decepticon's wouldn't target it. It was day one and Ironhide already hated it.

When the final bell rang he thought he was going to die of joy. Moments later Sam was emerging from the brick building with a girl. It wasn't Mikaela, she was on a trip with her parents. This girl had chin length light brown hair, deep blue eyes and came up to Sam's shoulder. Sam said something to her and she laughed and punched him in the arm playfully.

"I'll see you later Kory," he said as he waved to his friend. She waved back and sat down in the grass, her back against the sun warmed bricks. Sam took off his backpack and sat it in the seat beside him as he got in. Bee started his engine and started to pull out. Ironhide was just about to follow him when his audio sensors picked up raised voices.

"Give it back Trent!" A female voice yelled angrily.

"Uh, no," a male voice replied followed by laughter. Looking back at the school he saw the female know as Kory trying to get a notebook back, which the male knows as Trent was holding above his head teasingly. His engine rumbled lowly. Just as he was about to transform Bee's scratchy voice came over his communicator.

"Ironhide you know we can't transform in public!" The younger Autobot said. Then he got an idea. Parking as close as he could to the school, he concentrated and used his hologram, if you could even call it that. It wasn't like the earth holograms. This was as real as anything else. He could feel and touch everything.

Getting out of his car mode, he stormed up behind the blond one called Trent and snatched the notebook from his hand.

"What the-?" Trent yelled angrily as he turned around to see who dared to cross him. Ironhide committed the look of pure fear on the boys face to memory. The boys that followed Trent quickly withdrew from the older man that was standing in front of them.

Ironhide would never admit it to anyone but himself, but he did enjoy his human form and reactions that he got from most people. His hair, which was as black as his armor, was cut so he had bangs that hung in front of his ice blue eyes. At his full height he stood around 6'7" and had the body of a 39 year old weight lifter. The most distinguishing thing on his human form was the scar that ran from above his left eyebrow, across his nose and ended below his right eye.

Once the annoying boys were gone he looked down at the female known as Kory and handed her back her notebook.

"Thanks," she said softly as she clutched the book to her chest and looked at the ground. Ironhide then had the tremendous urge to brush back the strands of hair that has fallen in front of her deep blue eyes. It was only when he found those eyes gazing into his ice blue ones that he realized that he had acted on it. Noticing the red on the younger females face he couldn't help but grin. However, that grin quickly faded when he saw a bruise forming on her left cheek, no doubt from Trent or one of his followers. He reached out to touch it but Kory pulled away.

"I gotta go," she said as she turned and started to walk away. She was stopped by a strong hand wrapping itself loosely around her wrist.

"You should put some ice on that," he said softly, his eyes not leaving hers. Kory opened her mouth to protest but ended up nodding in agreement.

Once he helped the young woman into his car he started the engine and headed to Sam's house.

"You know Sam?" She asked suddenly. Ironhide was caught a bit off guard by this question and gave her a confused look.

"Why do you ask?" He inquired, curious as to how she guessed such a thing.

"Well, I saw your car parked beside his when we got out today," she said looking at her hands in her lap. "So I just assumed." The weapons specialist grinned at this. _Clever girl, _he thought.

"Yes I do know Sam," he replied as he turned into said boy's neighborhood. It was Friday so Ironhide knew that Sam's parents wouldn't be home. Pulling up to the curb he got out and helped Kory down from his, rather high sitting, car form.

Ironhide knocked on the door and heard Sam come stumbling down the stairs. Kory heard this as well and smiled slightly. The savior of earth opened the door and looked at the two of them a bit confused. Sam had never seen Ironhide's human hologram, more or less knew that they had one.

"Hey Sam," Kory said smiling brightly. Sam looked at Kory and instantly noticed the forming bruise on her cheek.

"Oh my god what happened?!" He said worriedly as he pulled her inside and dragged her into the kitchen to get some ice for her cheek. Ironhide couldn't help but laugh slightly at how fast the young boy was moving. Sam heard this and narrowed his dark brown eyes at the stranger in his living room. Telling Kory that he would be right back, he strode into the living room and glared at him.

"What is so damn funny," he hissed, not wanting his friend to hear. Ironhide grinned.

"The fact that I've never seen you move that fast unless it's from death," he replied coolly. Then instant he said that Sam's eyes went wide.

"Ironhide?!" He said in disbelief. The Autobot simply smiled back in silent response. Before Sam could say anything, Kory emerged from the kitchen holding Mojo in one hand. Ironhide narrowed his eyes at the small dog that had 'leaked lubricant" on his foot. Sam saw the look on Ironhide's face and smiled slightly, knowing very well what the arms specialist was remembering. Kory didn't seem to notice this and sat down beside her long time friend.

"I never got your name," she said looking up at the hologram.

"Ironhide," he answered, not thinking about taking a more human name.

"It's his nickname," Sam quickly interjected. Kory laughed softly at this and continued to pet Mojo.

"It fits you," she said simply.


	2. At Sam's

**Protector pt II**

A few hours passed and Ironhide was watching Kory and Sam play a card game called "War". The latter of the two was losing horribly. The Autobot watched in amusement as the young female laughed and took a large number of Sam's cards.

"I give up," the boy said as he threw his hands up in defeat. Kory laughed and looked at her watch.

"It's getting late, I better go," she said as he gathered the cards and put them away. Sam then got to his feet and grabbed his jacket. Kory rolled her eyes at this.

"Sam I live three blocks away, you don't have to drive me," she said laughing. Said boy was just about to object but Ironhide pushed himself to his feet and rested a hand on the shorter boys shoulder.

"I'll take her home," he said as he walked towards the door. Kory opened her mouth to protest but the older man grabbed her by the wrist and looked deep into her dark eyes.

"It's not safe for you to walk home," he said in a firm, yet calm, tone. Sighing she said her good-bye's to Sam and let Ironhide help her into his tall truck.

"Thank you Ironhide," Kory said looking at him as he drove.

"I'm sure someone would have helped you," he replied simply. His passenger snorted slightly as a wry smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.

"I doubt it" she said sadly as she gazed out the window. "People are too afraid to act when they feel something is unjust." Ironhide thought about what she said and had to agree with her. From what he had seen of humanity, most of them were timid and only acted when what was happening around them affected them directly. Turning to look at her he saw something leaking from Kory's eyes. Tears, she was crying. Seeing this he froze. Ironhide, weapons expert and renowned fighter of the Autobots, was frozen because of a girl crying.

"K-Kory, are you alright?" He asked as he pulled in front of her home. She smiled slightly and wiped her eyes with the heel of her hand.

"Yah I'm fine, just remembering," she said as she unbuckled herself and got out. "Thanks again Ironhide, for everything." With that said she turned and headed inside. He wouldn't see her again until Monday.

It was raining that Monday. The grey clouds that had blanketed the sky all day broke loose minutes before Sam and Kory emerged from the school. Bee and Ironhide were confused when they saw Sam saying something to Kory with a concerned look on his face. The young woman smiled slightly and shook her head in response to whatever he had said. Sam rolled his eyes at this and dragged her through the rain over to where Bee and Ironhide were parked. The later of the two Autobots activated its hologram and knocked on its window to get Kory's attention. Turning around, she saw Ironhide. He was pleased with the way her face lit up when she saw him. She turned to Sam and told him that she could get a ride with his friend. The dark haired boy opened his mouth to protest but ended up nodding his head, not without giving Kory's back a worried look.

"Hey Ironhide," Kory said cheerfully once she climbed into his truck. Running her hands through her soaking wet hair, she winced slightly at the wet mess she was making of his leather seats.

"It's alright," he said starting the engine. "They'll dry." With that said he pulled out of the parking lot, not far behind Bee, and drove her home.

As the two of them drove in silence, Ironhide could tell that something was wrong with the female beside him. Her dark blue eyes had dark circles under them. In humans he knew that this signified a lack of sleep.

"You seem tired," the Autobot said breaking the silence.

"Yah, I just had a rough weekend," his passenger replied as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. Seeing that Ironhide had pulled up beside her house, she smiled slightly as she unbuckled herself.

"Thanks Ironhide. You always seem to show up whenever I need you," with that said she smiled and closed her door. As Kory walked back to her house, Ironhide watched her and saw they she was swaying slightly. Getting out of his car form, he walked up behind her and draped one of her arms around his broad shoulders.


	3. Taking Kory Home

**Protector pt III**

Once the two of them were inside, Ironhide sat Kory down on the couch and looked her over. Looking down at her through his rain soaker hair he saw that her face was pale and her deep blue eyes had lost their shine. Resting a hand on her cheek he felt just how hot she was.

The weapons specialist opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by Kory suddenly pushing herself to her feet and running down the hallway. Before he could even stand up, he heard a horrible noise that made him cringe. Shortly after there was the sound of running water and Kory emerged from the bathroom, looking paler then she had before.

"I think you should go," she said as she ran a hand though her sort hair and made her way to the couch in the living room. Ignoring the urge to do as she said, he sat down beside her on the couch and rested his cooler hand on her hot forehead. Without knowing it, Kory leaned into his touch and let him rest her head in his lap. Ironhide didn't need to do a scan to see that the young female was tired. As she rested her head in his lap he couldn't help but play with her hair. It was so soft.

As Ironhide ran his large hands through Kory's light brown hair, said girl was at war with herself. She couldn't help but feel a very strong attraction to Ironhide, even though they had just met four days ago, and it scared her. Sure she had been attracted to guys in the past, but all of them were way out of her league and didn't even know that she existed. All guys at girls at school ignored her, and when they weren't they were picking on her.

This brought Kory to her current thoughts. Why was Ironhide acting like this towards her? In the 18 years she'd been alive, she had never know a guy to be so gentle with her, except for Sam. This caused part of her to think that Ironhide was going to take advantage of her, but the other part of her mind quickly pushed that aside. There was something about Sam's friend that radiated trust. _Trust, _Kory thought to herself. That was something that she hadn't felt in a long time. The teen didn't even trust her own mother, then again she was never home to earn it. Business kept them apart for months at a time. It took all of 2 years for Sam to earn Kory's trust and Ironhide had done it in less then a week. This thought made her grin inwardly. _Sam's gonna be so jealous, _with that last thought she fell into darkness.


	4. No Hospitals

**Protector IV**

When Ironhide was sure that Kory was asleep he called Ratchet. Sure he may have been a hologram, but he still had the basic Autobot communicator.

"This is Ironhide, come in Ratchet," he said softly, not wanting to wake the girl in his lap.

"This is Ratchet, what is it Ironhide?" The medic asked. The arms specialist was a bit hesitant to explain to Ratchet the situation.

"I need you to come to this location," he said as he sent him his coordinates. "And Ratchet, be discrete." When the medic heard his long time comrade say this he raised a nonexistent eyebrow.

"Ironhide are you at a girl named Kory's house?" He asked, trying to hide the smile in his tone. Bumblebee had told the older Autobot of how Ironhide had taken the young female home. There was a pause between the two Autobots.

"Just get over here," Ironhide said angrily then cut off the conversation. Ratchet smiled at Ironhide's response, shifted into his secondary form and headed out.

Ironhide saw Ratchet pull up to Kory's house and, very carefully, got up to open the door. Walking out to the ambulance he folded his arms across his chest, the sun had gone down so it was a bit chilly. That was one thing that he missed about his natural form, he wasn't as susceptible to the elements.

"How is your hologram working out?" The medic asked as he activated his. Ratchet's hologram stood a bit shorter then Ironhide's, about 6'4". His hair was a light brown and was slicked back with a few loose strands that fell in front of his dark brown eyes. He also wore a pair of oval steel rimmed glasses, even though he had no need for them. The medic had a slight build and appeared a few years younger then Ironhide, 35 actually.

"Well enough," the weapons expert said as he headed back inside. "I can't go more then 100 meters from my actual body though." As Ratchet entered the house after Ironhide he glanced around and took in the surroundings.

"You never explained why you wanted me to come," the medic said, this time expecting an answer. Ironhide glanced over his shoulder at the medic, and then looked back at the couch. Walking over to where his comrade was standing he saw Kory asleep on the couch. A small grin tugged at the corner of Ratchet's mouth. Kneeling beside the young woman, he scanned her sleeping figure. Sighing, the medic stood back up and sat down in the armchair next to the sofa.

"Her core body temperature is 105.3," he said as he stared off into space, searching the web for information. "The average human body temperature is 98.6. If I cannot get her fever to go down she will have to be taken to the hospital." With that said he looked back up at Ironhide and saw a hint of worry in the old soldier's eyes. Staring off into space again, he researched to try and find a way to try and ease Kory's fever.

"Ironhide, get a cloth of some sort and wet it with cool water," the medic said. To Ratchet's surprise, Ironhide did as he asked and was back in a matter of minutes. He was surprised again when the battle hardened Autobot sat down beside the unconscious human, lifted her head so it was in his lap and placed the washcloth on her forehead.

Once the cloth made contact with Kory's hot flesh, she stirred slightly and opened her eyes a crack. Seeing Ironhide's crystal blue eyes looking down at her she smiled tiredly.

"Hey 'Hide," she said softly. Ratchet's face broke into a full blown smile when he heard Kory call Ironhide by his nickname. Ironhide blushed slightly and looked back at Ratchet only to see a smile plastered across his face. Following Ironhide's gaze, Kory saw a stranger in her living room. Feeling Kory's body tense he knew that she was uncomfortable.

"It's alright Kory," he said as he ran a hand through her soft light brown hair. "His name's Ratchet, he's a friend." Hearing the stranger's name, she looked at Ironhide with a confused look and was about to say something when her stomach started to rebel against her again.

The only time the two Autobots had ever seen a human move so fast was when Sam had been running from Megatron. There was the same familiar gut wrenching noise that the weapons specialist had heard before, followed by more running water. Kory emerged from the bathroom shakily and leaned against the doorframe. _Why is everything spinning? _The young woman thought to herself. Ratchet scanned Kory's body and frowned.

"Ironhide she needs to be taken to the nearest hospital," the medic said seriously. Kory heard this and shook her head.

"No," she said in a raspy voice. "No hospi…" she faded off at the end when shadows crept into the corners of her vision and she blacked out.


	5. Memories and School

**Protector pt V**

A/N: thank you to all the wonderful people that reviewed this story and added it to the favorites!! 3333 gives cookies

_Kory unclosed her eyes and found herself in front of her house. It was a sunny day and her dad was fixing the mail box by the driveway. The older man looked up at her and smiled warmly. Just as he turned back to continue his work, a car came speeding down the road through the neighborhood. _No, _Kory thought to herself. _Not again._ The car was fifty feet away. _Damn it MOVE! _she yelled at her legs as tears streamed down her face. _

_Then the scenery changed._

_The first thing Kory recognized was the smell. Everything smelled disgustingly sterile. _No, I don't want to be here, _she cried to herself as her eyes unclosed themselves. Her father was lying on the bed in front of her. Tubes and wires of all sorts went from his body to multiple machines, machines that were keeping him alive. It had been three days since the accident and he was still unconscious. The doctors didn't think he was going to wake up. Kory hated them for not trying harder. She hated herself for being too stupid to not act. _It should be me there, _she thought as a tear rolled down her cheek._

_Things stayed like that for about a week. Until one fate full day, he opened his eyes. Kory had never left his side and was the first one to see his pale blue eyes. Relief and horror swept through her body. Relief because he had opened his eyes, horror because she knew what was coming next. Kory looked at the clock on the wall. 12:17 AM, she had two minutes. Again she wanted to run for help, but her legs wouldn't move. All she could do was hold his hand in hers and pray that it would be enough to keep him alive._

"_I love you," she cried as the monitors surrounding the two of them went off. Then everything went black._

Kory woke with a start and found that, much to her relief, she wasn't at the hospital. She was actually in her room. Sitting herself up, she looked at the digital clock beside her bed. It was 9:36 AM.

"Shit!" She cursed as he threw the covers off of her and ran over to her closet to get dressed. Quickly throwing on a pair of baggy jeans and a yellow t-shirt that said Camp Anawanna on the front (cookies if you remember that show), Kory stampeded down the stairs. Grabbing her backpack from the kitchen table she ran out the door.

Ironhide had left earlier that morning to accompany Sam and Bee to school, such was his duty. Ratchet had turned off his hologram and reverted back to his secondary form. Said Autobot had been sleeping but he was woken by the sound of a door slamming. It was Kory. The medic sighed to himself when he saw that she had dragged her bike from the garage and started to school.

By the time Kory got to school second period was over and it was her lunch period. Shaking and feeling a bit dizzy, she bought her lunch and ate it outside. Little did she know, Ironhide was watching her. The weapons specialist frowned when he saw Kory at school. He had hoped that she would take the day off and rest. His thoughts were interrupted by an F22 Raptor flying overhead. It was Starscream.

A/N: yes I know this chapter is extremely sucky but the next one will be better I promise!


	6. Attacked and Exposed

**Protector pt VI**

A/N Thank you to all my wonderful reviewers! And the favorites! hugs and cake woo! Longer chapter XD yah I know the last few have been a bit on the short side TT hopefully this one is better 3

Ironhide cursed under his breath and radioed Optimus.

"Optimus, Bee and I aren't alone. Starscream's circling the school," he said making sure to keep an eye on the F22.

"I'll be there as soon as possible. Do not strike unless fired upon," the lead Autobot added, knowing very well that the weapons specialist would shoot the Decepticon down without a second thought. No sooner had he said that a missal came rocketing through the air. Bumblebee reacted instantly, transforming within a split second and shooting down the missal. Needless to say the explosion had caused quite a disturbance and people ran inside screaming.

Sam, who had been eating his lunch with Kory, saw Bee shoot down the missal and Ironhide transform beside him. Looking up at the sky he saw a jet circling the school.

"Starscream," Sam said under his breath. Pushing himself to his feet he grabbed Kory's wrist and ran to the parking lot. Before Kory could even say anything she saw two huge robots in the school parking lot.

"Oh my god," she whispered as her dark blue eyes went wide. Just as the two of them were half way to where the black and yellow robots were, a car exploded about ten feet from them. The force of the blast threw both of them forward onto the hard asphalt of the parking lot. Wincing, Sam pushed himself to his feet and helped Kory to hers as well.

"Bee!" Sam yelled up to his guardian. Said Autobot looked down at Sam and immediately shifted back into his Camero form, both passenger and driver side doors open. Too preoccupied with staying alive, Kory jumped into the Camero without thinking. It was only when several missals exploded fifteen feet from where they were that she started to ask questions.

"Sam what the hell is going on?!" Kory yelled in panic. Sam wasn't listening to her though.

"Bee, get us out of here!" The young boy yelled to the steering wheel. Instantly the car jumped to life and burned rubber as it sped out of the parking lot. Kory twisted her body to look behind them only to see an all too familiar black truck following them.

"Ironhide?" She said mostly to herself. Hearing this Sam turned and looked behind them and saw the arms specialist not far behind. Sam was about to say something when he saw something red on Kory's seat. Upon further inspection, he realized that it was blood, blood coming from his friend's side.

"Kory you're bleeding!" Sam exclaimed, his brown eyes wide with worry as he looked at her side.

"What?" Kory said a bit confused as she followed her friends gaze. When she saw her side that was when she started to panic. Feeling the new passenger's heart rate spike, Bumblebee headed back towards the base.

About five minutes later they arrived at the Autobot base. Kory was still conscious, but as fading fast. It wasn't the fact that she had lost a lot of blood, it was the fact that she didn't have any sugar in her system to keep her conscious. Bee screeched to a halt and Sam helped Kory out of the car.

"Ratchet!" Sam yelled. _Ratchet? He knows him too? _Kory thought as everything around her started to sound muffled and far off. Then there was the sensation of her being carried but it wasn't by Sam, or anything human for that matter. Forcing her eyes to focus she found herself gazing up at a giant robotic face. _How hard did I hit that asphalt? _This was Kory's last thought before darkness took her.

The next time Kory regained some degree of consciousness, the first thing she noticed was she was laying down on something hard and metallic. Then there was the IV in her arm. Wincing, she sat herself up and was just about to pull the irritating needle out of her arm when a voice was heard from behind her.

"I see you're finally awake," a vaguely familiar voice said. Turning around she saw a huge robot standing beside her. It took Kory all of five seconds to fully register what was standing not more then ten feet from her. She then remembered that Sam had called him Ratchet. Sam. Oh she was gonna have a few choice words with him when she was able, but at the moment she was a _bit_ overwhelmed by the mech beside her.

"R-Ratchet?" She said hesitantly. The medic grinned slightly and activated his hologram. There standing in front of her was the same brown haired man that had been in her living room when she had been sick. Kory was pulled from her thoughts by a sharp pain in her arm.

"Ah!" She gasped as the hologram pulled the needle from her arm. Looking up at the human hologram, here deep blue eyes met his dark brown ones. To her surprise the hologram smiled at her then proceeded to bandage her arm.

When he was finished the hologram disappeared. Looking up at the robot she pushed herself to her feet and got a good look at him. His armor was a light yellow and his eyes were a bright blue.

The awkward silence between the two of them was broken by Kory's stomach growling loudly, causing her face to turn several shades of red. A low laugh rumbled in Ratchet's throat at the sound that the young woman's stomach made. Human never ceased to surprise him.

"You must be quite hungry for your stomach to make such a noise," the medic said as he held out a hand for Kory to climb in. Climbing into the mech's hand she was surprised that it was warm and not cold. Sitting down in his palm she let him carry her. There were so many questions Kory had buzzing around on her head but she just didn't know where to start.

"You're taking all this in surprisingly well," Ratchet said in a slightly amused tone. Hearing this Kory couldn't help but laugh slightly.

"I think by brain's still trying to process it all," she said smiling. "I know this is gonna sound kinda rude but…what _are_ you?" She asked looking up at the robot carrying her. Ratchet then began the story of the ancient war between the Autobots and the Decepticons, the All-Spark and everything that had happened on Earth. By the time he finished explaining everything they had arrived at the mess hall.

The fist thing Kory saw was Sam. Ratchet sat her down on the table and the first thing she did was storm over to him and smacked him on the shoulder, hard.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Sam whined as he rubbed his shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Kory demanded, hands on her hips.

"I couldn't! It had to be kept secret!" Sam explained as he backed away from his friend. Sure he loved her to death but her wrath was _not _something you wanted to endure. Fortunately, Sam had come prepared. Reaching into his backpack he pulled out a box of Tagalongs (best cookies EVER!! XD). Kory's eyes went wide and tackled Sam for the box. Sam laughed and let Kory have them.

The two of them sat and talked for what felt like ages.

"Who else knows?" Kory asked taking another peanut butter and chocolate cookie from the box.

"Not very many. Me, Mikaela and a few people in the army," was his response. Kory paused for a moment looking at Sam, and then smiled.

"Who would have thought it? Sam Whitwiky savior of Earth," she laughed. "The boy that can't even stand the sight of blood." (I don't know if this is true but I can see him fainting at the sight of it). Sam feigned hurt and the two of them laughed. Once the box was empty Sam helped Kory to her feet.

"Come one, I want to introduce you to everyone," he said as he led her down the hallway to the command room.

There were only two Autobots in the room at the moment. Kory recognized the yellowish orange one as Sam's Camero. Said Autobot turned and saw Sam with Kory. Bee kneeled in front of the two and let them climb into his hand.

"Bumblebee Kory, Kory Bumblebee," Sam said gesturing with a hand. Kory couldn't help but smile. The yellow Autobot made a purring noise when she rested a hand on his face.

"Oh my god Sam he's so CUTE!" She exclaimed as she hugged his face. Sam laughed and introduced the other in the room.

"That's Jazz, he's second in command," the dark haired boy said gesturing to a shorter mech.

"What's crackn' little bitches?" Jazz asked turning to face the two of them. Kory smiled at this.

"So what kind of car do you turn into?" She asked the silver mech. The response she got was a grin from him and him transforming into a silver Pontiac Solstice.

"Now _that's _bad ass," she said looking at Sam. Jazz revved his engine in approval and changed back.

"A word of caution," Sam said leaning over to Kory. "If you're gonna get a ride with him, bring a barf bag."

"I heard that!" Jazz said from over his shoulder as he turned his attention back to the computer screen.

"I wouldn't take any offence to it Jazz," Kory said laughing. "Sam may have saved the world, but he still can't take anything doing over 100 miles and hour." Jazz let out a loud laugh when she said this and turned so he was facing the young woman.

"And what about you?" Jazz asked, a smile on his face.

"The faster it goes the better," was Kory's reply. Jazz was about to respond but was cut off.

"You slacking off again Jazz? I swear, sometimes I wonder why Optimus made you second in command," a slightly familiar voice said, closely followed by a large black Autobot.

"'Hide you're way to uptight, relax man," Jazz complained. _'Hide?! _Kory thought looking at the black Autobot. Sam saw the look on Kory's face and rubbed the back of his neck in apprehension.

"And that's Ironhide," he said softly, suddenly finding his shoes very interesting. Ironhide saw Kory in Bee's hand and knew that she knew. _This isn't going to go well, _the arms specialist thought to himself as he approached Bee and held out his hand for her to climb into.


	7. Confrontations and Walks

**Protector pt VII**

A/N: Thankies to all the wonderful reviewers 3333 oh in case people didn't notice I brought chars back to life bc I like then too much to keep them dead XD

Kory climbed into Ironhide's large hand and let him carry her to wherever they were going. As she sat in his large palm she couldn't help but feel extremely overwhelmed by the whole situation. Ok so she learned about an alien race that was living alongside humans in everyday life, her brain could handle that…kind of. However, learning that the guy that she had a _huge _crush on _was_ one of the aliens…that kind of sent her over the edge. She wanted to yell at him for not telling her but she knew that he couldn't have blown his cover like that. Besides, would she have believed him? Probably not.

Ironhide came to a stop and sat his hand down so Kory could get off. Getting to her feet she got out of his hand and looked up at him. His eyes glowed icy blue as he looked down at her. The young woman sighed and ran a hand through her chin length hair. The weapons specialist was just about to say something, but Kory beat him to it.

"I can understand why you didn't tell me," she said a bit flatly. "But…" she just couldn't find the right words to explain what was going through her head. Instead she started to rant to herself, completely oblivious that Ironhide could hear her.

"God what was I _thinking!_" She yelled throwing her hands up in the air. "I'd only known him for like what two days and I already fell fort him? How pathetic is that?" She asked no one in particular. "Of course the day I get up the nerve to tell him how I feel I find out that he's an alien from another planet! Just perfect!" Ironhide was getting a bit unnerved by Kory's ranting and decided to try and calm her down.

"Kory, calm down," he said as soothingly as he could as he reached down to her. He didn't expect what came next.

"DON'T YOU TELL ME TO BE CALM!!" She yelled back as she pulled away from his touch. "I HAVE BEEN SHOT AT, LIED TO, STABBED IN THE SIDE," she was yelling off these things as she counted them off on her hand. Clenching her hands into fists she closed her dark blue eyes and tried to regain some control over herself.

"Why am I even bothering," she said to herself as tears of mixed emotions leaked from her eyes. "You probably don't even like me." With that said she turned on her heel and stomped off, not caring where she was going. She just wanted to get away from him, from everything.

"Hey have you seen Kory?" Sam asked Ratchet when he saw him.

"No I haven't. The last time I saw her was when I took her to the mess hall to meet with you," the medic replied looking down at the young boy. "Can you not find her?"

"No," Sam sighed as he ran a hand through his short dark hair, worry apparent in his equally dark eyes. "Anyways, thanks Ratchet." He waved as he left the medical wing. Just as the young boy turned to leave, the medic thought of something.

"Have you checked outside?" He asked. Sam paused, and then sprinted towards the entrance. _I guess not, _Ratchet thought to himself as he turned back to his work.

Sam raced outside and looked around franticly for Kory, but she wasn't there. Sighing in frustration, he headed back inside. What he also didn't see were a pair of foot prints leaving the base.

Kory sniffed and wiped the salty tears from her eyes. The sun was setting and the temperature was starting to drop. Only having on a t-shirt she wrapped her arms around her frame, a sad attempt to stay warm.

She was so deep in thought that she didn't hear the sound of the car approaching behind her. It was only when she felt something run into the back of her that she turned around. It was a car. Figuring that whoever the driver was wanted to get by, she moved out of the middle of the dirt road but continued walking. The same thing happened again. That was when the anger set in.

"What the fuck is your problem asshole?!" She yelled slamming her fist on the hood of the car.

"Ow! Damn, 's that 'ny way to greet a friend?" A familiar voice said, feigning hurt.

"Jazz?" Kory said in surprise. The response she got was the driver side door opening. She started towards the invitation but hesitated before she got in.

"You're not gonna take me back to the base are you?" She asked warily.

"Not if ya don' want me to," came the second in commands smooth reply. Kory still hesitated. Jazz let out the Autobot equivalent of a sigh and transformed.

"I'm sorry Jazz," Kory said softly as a stray tear rolled down her cheek. "I just…I just really need to walk." Jazz smiled understandingly.

"Mind if I walk with ya?" He asked. Kory smiled shook her head. The two of them walked in silence for a good while until the silver Autobot spoke.

"Everyone's worried about ya," he said looking down at the small female. This caused Kory to laugh slightly.

"Yah I can imagine Sam threw quite a fit when he couldn't find me," she commented looking at the ground. A sudden breeze blew by, causing her to shiver slightly. Before she could even say anything, Jazz had shifted into his secondary form. Smiling she climbed in and savored the warmth of Jazz's interior. As Jazz cruised along, a thought then occurred to her.

"Do you feel this?" She asked as she ran a hand over the leather divider. Jazz's whole frame shuddered.

"Y-Yah why?" The silver Pontiac replied. Kory grinned.

"This one time, I was riding in 'Hide and I couldn't, for the life of me, stop stroking the leather," she said, a smiled plastered across her face. Jazz burst out laughing.

"Don' worry, I'm sure he enjoyed _every_ _second_ of it," he said when the fit of laughter passed. Kory's smiled faded when her mind wandered back to Ironhide.

"'Ey, wha's wrong?" The Pontiac asked sensing the changed in his passenger's demeanor. "Ah you're thinkn' 'bout him aren't ya?" This was more of a statement then a question. Kory sighed and leaned back in the comfortable leather seat.

"Do you know how we met?" She asked. Jazz snorted.

"Dude, 'm _so _outta the loop now'n days," came his reply. Kory smiled and began the story from Trent all the way to the attack on the school.

"Shit man nobody tells me anythn'!" Jazz whined when Kory finished telling him everything.

"When 'Hide got back my notebook from Trent, that was the first real time that anyone had really stuck up for me," she said softly. "And when I got sick he was there again. He was always there when I needed him." Jazz smiled to himself when she said that.

"Man you've got it _bad_," he said laughing slightly.


	8. Sick Again

**Protector VIII**

Kory wanted to deny it, to deny she had fallen for Ironhide, and hard at that. Instead of denying it, she simply sighed.

"It doesn't matter," she mumbled to herself as she rested her head against the window and closed her eyes, she felt a headache coming on and she felt a little hot. After driving for what felt like ages in complete silence, she spoke.

"Jazz I don't feel so good," Kory said. She knew that she was still sick from yesterday and she had very little food in her stomach, though she had a feeling that it wouldn't be there for long. Jazz scanned Kory's body and found that she had a fever of 100.4.

"I'm takn' ya back to the base," the Pontiac stated as he turned around. Kory wanted to protest, but she suddenly became very tired.

Just as she was starting to doze off, she was jolted awake by a loud crack of thunder. Kory whimpered and curled up in the seat.

"Don' like thunder do ya?" Jazz said when he felt his passenger's heart rate spike. Kory shook her head in response.

"_Hate _it," she mumbled into her knees.

Kory sat like that all the way back to the base. She didn't even notice they were back until Jazz opened her door. Staggering out of the compact vehicle she leaned against a wall to steady herself. Jazz transformed seconds after Kory got out and kneeled beside her.

"You a'ight?" The silver Autobot asked. Getting no response form the young woman, he scanned her again. Her fever had spiked and was at 103.1.

"Tha's it. I'm takn' you to Ratchet," he said as he picked Kory up and sat her in his hand.

Ratchet was sitting at his computer downloading some research when Jazz came walking in. The medic frowned when he saw Kory's half conscious figure in the second in commands hand.

"Kory's sick," Jazz said to the taller Autobot. Ratchet sighed and told the silver Autobot to lay her down on one of the tables.

"She should have stayed home today instead of going to school," the medic mumbled to himself as he scanned the young woman's body. "That walk she took did nothing to help her condition." With that said the medic activated his hologram and walked over to Kory, who had just sat herself up. Easing her back down into the table, he realized just how horrible she looked. The only color on her face was red blotches because of her fever and she was shaking. Taking in all of her symptoms, Ratchet deduced that she had the Flu. Sighing, he ran a hand through his light brown hair and looked up at Jazz.

"She has a human virus called Influenza or, as it's commonly called, the Flu," the medic said. "Kory is a healthy human so her body should have no problems fighting off the virus. What she will need is lots of rest and fluids to keep her hydrated." No sooner had he said this Kory sat up again, looking slightly more aware of her surroundings.

"Ratchet I wanna go home," she mumbled as she leaned on the holograms shoulder. The medic thought for a moment.

"Ok," he replied. "But I'll be coming by tomorrow to se how your feeling." Jazz was just about to transform to take Kory home when Ironhide walked in.

"Ah Ironhide," the medic said upon seeing the arms specialist. "Could you please escort Kory home?" The response he got from the black Autobot was him transforming into his secondary form. Jazz looked at Kory, knowing very well that she would rather have him take her home. However, in her current state, she could have cared less. Jazz helped her down from the table and let her crawl inside Ironhide. The door closed with a soft thud and the two of them were gone.

The old battled hardened Autobot wanted to say something but he didn't know what. He still couldn't believe what Kory had said earlier: "I'd only known him for like what two days and I already fell for him?Not only that, but the same thing happened to him. _I've only known Kory for a few days. Why do I feel so protective of her? _He asked himself, even though he was already very well aware of the answer.

"'Hide?" Kory mumbled, pulling the arms specialist from his thoughts.

"Yes Kory?"

"'m sorry I yelled at you," she apologized. Ironhide couldn't help but smile to himself.

"You have nothing to apologize for Kory," he said soothingly. "You have been through a lot today, almost as much as Sam went through when he first met us. You were going to eventually let it all out." When he said this Kory couldn't help but crack a weak smile. The rest of the ride was a comfortable silence.

When Ironhide pulled up to Kory's house, he was a bit confused as to why the place seemed to lifeless. He would have to ask her about that later. Focusing more of his sensors on his passenger, he found that she had fallen asleep. He wasn't surprised, it was almost 12 am and she had had a very trying day.

"Kory," he said softly. Said girl stirred and unclosed her eyes sleepily. Upon seeing that they were in front of her house she opened the door and half stumbled out. Turning around so she was facing Ironhide she rested a hand on the side of his hood and rubbed it softly. Kory didn't know it but this simple gesture caused his spark to flicker slightly.

"Thanks 'Hide," she said as a faint smiled tugged at the corner of her lips. Turning her back to him she headed inside. Seconds later the light in her room flicked on for a few minutes, then went out. He waited a few more minutes, and then scanned her room. She was sleeping peacefully. Letting out a sigh he sank onto his shocks as he remembered the feeling on her warm hand on his armor.

"If only you knew what you do to me," he said to himself as he pulled away from her house and headed back to the base.


	9. A Misunderstanding

**Protector pt IX**

A/N: again many loving thanks to all the wonderful people the review and fave this loves to all I'm still in shock of how popular this story had gotten faints sorry for the long wait TT I was trying to make it longer and I think I did an ok job play's with fingers

The next morning, Kory woke feeling slightly better but not by much. Practically falling out of her bed, she got dressed in a pair of comfy black sweatpants and a light grey sleeveless. Running a hand through her chin length hair she grabbed the dark blue blanket from her bed and headed downstairs.

It was only when she entered the kitchen that she realized just how late she had slept in, it was almost 12 in the afternoon. Rummaging around in one of the cabinets she reached for a can of tomato soup but decided against it. _My stomach probably can't handle something like that yet, _she thought to herself sadly. She was _really _hungry and wanted nothing more then to indulge herself in a bowl of her favorite soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Instead she decided on a package of saltine crackers and grabbed a bottle of Gingerale from the fridge.

Nestling herself into her midnight blue blanket, she had just picked up her spiral to start sketching when the doorbell rang. This caused her to almost scream in annoyance. The last thing she wanted was to be bothered. She debated whether or not to answer the door for a few seconds, but her conscience got the best of her. Getting to her feet she rested her head again the door.

"Who is it?" She asked, trying to keep the anger out of her voice.

"It's Ratchet," came a familiar voice. Sighing, Kory unlocked the door and let the medic in. Once Ratchet was inside, she closed the door and sat back down on the couch with her blanket.

"How do you feel?" Ratchet asked sitting beside her.

"A little better," she yawned as he scanned her body.

"You still have a slight fever," he said mostly to himself. Just as he was about to say something else the doorbell rang again. Grumbling in frustration, Kory was just about to get up and answer the door but Ratchet beat her to it.

"What in the name of Primus are you doing here?" Kory heard Ratchet ask.

"'Ey man you said I could come by," came a familiar voice's reply. _Jazz? _She thought as she turned around so she could see the door. Standing in front of Ratchet was a dark skinned man that stood a good foot shorter the medic, about 5'8". The newcomer craned his neck so he could see over Ratchet's shoulder and saw Kory.

"Sup Kory?" He said playfully she he shoved past the medic. The response he got from her was a large grin.

"Hey Jazz," she said still smiling as he sat down beside her. It was then that she got a good look at his hologram. His hair was short and slightly curly and he had on a pair of slightly form fitting dark blue jeans and a white muscle t-shirt. He had a diamond stud earring in his right ear and had on a pair of polarized sunglasses, hiding his deep brown eyes.

"Jazz," Ratchet said in a slightly irritated tone. "I told you that I would call you when you could visit."

"I got bored," the second in command replied as he draped an arm around Kory's shoulders in a brotherly way. The medic sighed and rolled his eyes at this as he continued his check up.

When Ratchet was satisfied with the thoroughness of his exam, about 15 minutes later, he got ready to leave.

"Jazz, Kory needs her rest," he said looking down at the second in command, which had a sleeping Kory in his arms.

"I think she's don' just fine like this," he replied with a grin. Ratchet frowned but he had to admit, Kory was sleeping soundly and showed no signs of waking soon. Reluctantly, Ratchet let Jazz stay with the young woman.

Several hours after he had left, Ironhide pulled up. He saw that Jazz was there and figured that the two of them were playing a game of some sort. What he didn't expect to see was Kory asleep in an also sleeping Jazz's arms. Before the arms specialist knew what he was doing he had Jazz by the collar of his shirt and was lifting him off the couch. Needless to say this woke Jazz up instantly.

"The hell?!" Jazz shouted when he realized it was Ironhide that had a death grip on him. Once Kory's eyes focused she realized that Ironhide looked like he was about to beat the shit out of Jazz.

"IRONHIDE STOP IT!" She yelled in a hoarse voice, grabbing onto one of his muscular arms. The taller hologram released Jazz and let him fall to the floor.

"_Wha the hell was that all about?!"_ Jazz yelled at his comrade in their native tongue as he pushed himself to his feet. The black haired hologram glared back at the shorter one angrily.

"_Stay away from her," _Ironhide growled. Jazz furrowed his brow in confusion, but then understood. He thought that he was trying to steal Kory from him. Jazz laughed slightly and shook his head.

"_Dude, I see Kory as a best friend. Nothin' more," _the second in command answered calmly. _"Besides, she only has eyes for you." _He added, a grin tugging at the corner of his lips at Ironhide's faint blush. Kory was extremely confused. First Ironhide was about to beat the living day-lights out of Jazz, and now he was blushing.

"Uh, guys what just happened?" Kory asked a bit hesitantly. Jazz smiled as he rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Nothin' to worry 'bout Kory, just a misunderstandin'," Jazz said as he made his way to the door. Just before he left, he turned and looked at Ironhide over his shoulder.

"_Tell her," _then he was gone.

A/N: Yay! End of shitty chapter XD claps ok I have several ideas bouncing around in my empty skull for the next few chapters…I'm thinking either confessions or kidnapping…or maybe both I dunno. Tell me what you think! Don't make me beg TT


	10. Movies and Fireworks

**Protector pt X**

A/N: ok due to popular demand I'm having both done in this chapter…kinda…but anyways! Again a MAJOR thank you for all the wonderful reviews and the input! Loves to all!

The black Autobot's processor was working at almost full capacity. _Tell her? Tell her how?! When?! _He thought frantically. He was pulled form his thoughts by Kory pulling away from his side and sitting back down on the couch. Then there was an awkward silence, or at least it was awkward to Ironhide. Kory, as if sensing his discomfort, was the one to break the silence.

"Wanna watch a movie?" She asked, her dark blue eyes meeting his crystal blue ones. Before he could even react, she had already gotten to her feet and was looking through her collection. Running a hand through her chin length light brown hair she sighed. She wanted to pick out a movie that she thought Ironhide would like. _Hmmm, he seems like a guy that would like lots of explosions, _she thought to herself as she pulled out the move The Rock.

"This is one of my favorites," she said kneeling in front of the TV and putting the movie in. "I think you'll like it too, lots of explosions." She said with a grin as she looked over her shoulder at the hologram. To her confusion he was frowning.

"Y-You don't have to stay of you don't wan to," she said in a soft voice, turning back to the TV. "I-I just thought that-" Ironhide realized what his facial expression must have conveyed.

"Oh, no Kory its' not that," he said kneeling beside her, fearing that he may have unintentionally hurt her feelings. "I can only sustain my hologram form for 30 to 45 minutes, depending how far away from my body I am." Kory nodded in understanding, and then thought for a moment.

"I have an idea," she said aloud as she got to her feet and went upstairs to her room. Seconds later she emerged with her laptop in her hands. Understanding what she had in mind, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he nodded and his hologram disappeared.

Seconds later Kory was sitting in Ironhide's cab, wrapped in her soft blanket, with The Rock playing on her laptop. The arms specialist activated his hologram and watched the movie beside his passenger. As the movie progressed, Kory got more and more tired. By the time the credits started, she was asleep on Ironhide's shoulder. Grinning slightly, he moved her from his shoulder and leaned back her seat. Brushing a few stray strands of hair from her face he sighed.

"Primus help me," he whispered to himself. "I love you Kory."

At the Autobot Base

Jazz was sitting in the control room, bored as usual. That quickly changed when two Decepticon signatures appeared on the screen.

"Oh shit," he cursed when he realized that they were heading straight for Kory's house. He tried to radio Ironhide but he had turned his communicator off. Cursing yet again he called Optimus.

"Optimus, we got a situation," he said, watching the two signals as they gained speed.

Back at Kory's

Both Ironhide and Kory were pulled from sleep by a missal exploding ten feet from where they were. The weapons specialist instantly went into battle mode.

"What's going on?!" Kory asked in a panic.

"Decepticons," came the Autobot's gruff response. "Kory, get out and hide in the basement." Not needing to be told twice, Kory flung open the door and made a mad dash for the door. She didn't get very far. Blackout fired several rounds at her, causing her to fall to the ground. Barricade transformed and lunged at Ironhide. The two metal giants met with a loud crash and wrestled to the floor, throwing punch after punch at each other.

Kory was panicking. She wanted to help Ironhide, but how? Then she saw the helicopter transform as well and approach the two wrestling mechs with his weapon drawn. _Gotta do something, _Kory thought as she looked around frantically for something that could be used as a weapon. Running to her garage she rummaged around until she found what she was looking for. Fireworks.

"Perfect," she mumbled under her breath as she grabbed her 'weapons' and a lighter, she ran back outside. By this time Ironhide was having some problems holding off the two Decepticons. Dropping the fireworks Kory picked up a bottle rocket, lit it and aimed it at the helicopter.

"Hey! Over here you overgrown blender!" She yelled getting its attention. Blackout glared at Kory with its bright red eyes and pulled out its canon. No sooner had he done that, the firework launched itself into his left optic. Roaring in anger and pain, he reeled back and covered his optic with one hand.

Not waiting more then two seconds, Kory then set off a series of smokers, covering her yard in a mix of red, blue and green haze. Blackout, still clutching his wounded optic, fired several times into the smoke. Kory coughed violently as the smoke stung her lungs painfully. Staggering from the cloud of mixed colors, she was plucked from the ground by a very angry Blackout.

"Wretched human," he growled as he tightened his hold on Kory's much smaller frame. Said girl gasped as she felt the air being crushed form her lungs. Blackout's torture was ceased when a semi truck with red flames smashed into his legs, causing him to fall and for Kory to go flying and landing in a crumpled heap in the road.

Black spots filled Kory's vision as she sat herself up. She tied to push herself to her feet but every part of her body throbbed with pain. Looking at her arms she found that they were covered in scrapes and cuts, accompanied by forming bruises. She then looked up at the battle that was still raging in front of her. Optimus and Ironhide were beating the two Decepticons and the helicopter and police car knew it.

Barricade yelled something to Blackout in their native tongue and the two of them transformed. Blackout took to the sky with Optimus still firing at him and Barricade burned rubber as he sped towards Kory. Ironhide saw this and immediately started to fire at the Decepticon. What he didn't expect was for a spiny silver hand to reach from the car and pull the young woman in. Frenzy. The door to the car slammed shut and sped off.

"KORY!" The weapons specialist yelled. Just as he was about to transform and chase after Barricade, Optimus stopped him. The black Autobot looked at the leader confused.

"You can't go after her in your current condition," he said calmly. He hadn't even noticed it, but energon was leaking from his side. Pain, both physical and emotional, was obvious in the mechs optics as he watched Barricade disappear with Kory.

"Don't worry Ironhide," he said as he draped one of Ironhide's arms over his shoulders. "We'll get her back."

A/N: AHHHHH PLEASE DON'T HATE ME FOR THE ENDING!! runs and hides behind Jazz TT on a different note! Look forward to a chase scene in the next installment! And Kory doesn't get along well with Frenzy…AT ALL!


	11. Chasing and a Dislocated Nose

**Protector XI**

A/N: AHHHHH!! I'm SO sorry that I haven't updated in several days! TT my writers block was eating my brain so problems ensued.

Optimus radioed Ratchet and told him that Ironhide needed some patching up before he could transform. Minutes later the rest of the Autobots were there, including Sam and Bumblebee.

"Optimus what happened?!" Sam exclaimed. "Where's Kory?"

Meanwhile…

Barricade had been uncharacteristically patient with the female human. That was until she started thrashing about inside him.

"LET ME OUT!" Kory yelled as she kicked the door of the car. She knew that it wouldn't do any good since she didn't have any shoes on, but she figured she could at least try. Growling, the Decepticon told Frenzy to secure her in one of the seats. Frenzy, being the psycho spazz that he is, pulled out his small machine gun pointed it at Kory. Barricade let out a sigh of relief when he felt her stop moving. What he didn't expect was for Kory to fight back.

The force of the young woman tackling Frenzy caused Barricade to swerve slightly. Focusing more of his sensors on his interior he found that Frenzy and Kory were having an all out brawl inside him and the two of them were pretty well matched. Sure Frenzy had strength, but Kory had weight. The mini Decepticon got a bit too excited and started firing, blasting holes in the upholstery and cracking several windows. Barricade growled and slammed on the brakes, sending Frenzy slamming into the windshield with a resounding crack.

"_I told you to __restrain__ her you worthless piece of scrap metal!" _Barricade yelled at Frenzy as he started to move again.

"_Shestartedit!"_ The silver robot chattered back in protest.

"_I don't care!" _Barricade snapped back angrily. Before he could continue reprimanding his companion, he was slammed into from behind. It was Jazz. The Decepticon growled angrily and weaved in and out of the evening traffic, hoping to lose the silver Autobot in the process. No such luck.

"Hold on," he said to Kory as he sped up and made several sharp turns.

"On no you don't," Jazz growled as he sped up as well. The second in command didn't particularly know what he was going to when he caught up with Barricade. It's not like he could blast the damn Decepticon, not if Kory was still inside.

"Jazz," Optimus's deep voice said through his communicator. "Let him go. I don't want to endanger Kory more then she already is." Jazz couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"But-" he started to protest.

"Jazz," the Autobot leader said in a serious tone. "We _will _get her back." Jazz yelled in frustration as he whipped around and headed back to the base.

Optimus sighed sadly when Jazz cut of the connection. He knew that Jazz saw Kory as, what humans called, a younger sister and hated to leave her. Optimus didn't like it either, but they had no other choice. However, the old Autobot had a feeling that Barricade would not hurt Kory. Even though Optimus had not met Kory he had the sneaking feeling that she could more then take care of herself. If he had heard correctly from Ironhide she launched, what Sam called a 'firework', into his left optic. Optimus was surprised that this memory caused a faint smile to spread across the black Autobots face.

Kory felt a cold knot form in her stomach when she saw that Jazz had stopped following them. The stinging of forming tears came to her eyes as she rested her head against the cool glass of one of the windows. Frenzy, who seemed to be a bit tired from the fight with Kory, transformed into his radio form and slept in the driver's seat.

Barricade was slightly surprised by his captive's change in demeanor. He had expected her to start fighting again and to raise all sorts of trouble.

"What? No more fighting?" He said, a mocking grin obvious in his tone. The response he got from Kory was a swift kick in the dash.

"You want me to fight?" She growled. The mech noticed the emotions in her voice. Anger and sadness. Making sure that Frenzy was asleep, he spoke again.

"I was simply under orders," he said a bit softer. Focusing more of his inner sensors on his passenger he found that she was crying, this caused him to cringe slightly.

"Please don't cry human," he implored.

"Kory," she said wiping her eyes as she looked at the radio, the source of the voice. "My name's Kory."

"Barricade," the radio replied. There was a pause between the two of them.

"Why'd you kidnap me?" She asked rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"You are close with the Autobot known as Ironhide, because of this you can be used as a bargaining chip," was Barricade's calm reply. Before Kory could respond Barricade slammed on the brakes to avoid being run into by another car. This caused Kory to lurch forward and hit her face on the dashboard. Somehow Frenzy remained asleep. The Decepticon cursed in Cybertronian under his breath, resisting the urge to blow up the car that was now in front of him. He then felt something warm fall onto his interior, blood. Kory winced in pain as she clutched her nose, which was now bleeding profusely.

"Kory, are you alright?" Barricade asked as he focused more of his internal sensors on his captive.

"I think my nose's broken," was her soft reply as tears of pain leaked from her dark blue eyes. Barricade checked to see how far he was from his destination. He was at least thirty miles from where he was to meet Starscream.

"_Starscream this is Barricade," _he said as he hailed the jet.

"_What in the name of Primus is taking you so slagging long?!" _The jet demanded irritably. Barricade rolled his eyes at Starscream's tone.

"_It's called traffic you fragging piece of scrap, not that you would know what it is anyways," _Barricade snapped back, he was so not in the mood to deal with Starscream's questions. _"I'm going to be late." _With that said he cut off the connection and got onto an exit ramp.

After driving a little ways, he pulled into a dense part of the woods and told Kory to get out, along with Frenzy. Once the two of them were out he transformed and stretched slightly. Looking down at his captive he saw that she was still clutching her nose. Kneeling in front of her he scanned it quickly.

"It's not broken, just dislocated," he stated as he lifted one of his clawed hands. The sheer size of his hands caused Kory to back away slightly.

"I'm just going to put it back in place," he said calmly. Barricade was no medic but he knew enough basic human anatomy to relocate shoulders and such minor things. Stepping forward, Kory let him place a long digit on either side of her nose. Before she could even brace herself for the pain, Barricade had already jerked it back into place. At first she didn't feel anything, and then a shooting pain shot through her face causing her to hiss in pain as she clutched her newly realigned nose. Barricade stood back up and transformed back into his car form. He was surprised that Kory walked back over to him and crawled in. Revving his engine he pulled out of the woods and headed out.

After driving for about five minutes he scanned the young woman's body and found that she was extremely tired.

"You can lie down in the back," he said softly, not wanting to wake Frenzy. Kory nodded in understanding and crawled into the back. _He's not such a bad guy, _she thought to herself as she curled up in the backseat and felt her eyelids grow heavy. Her thoughts then wandered back to Ironhide. _'Hide, don't forget me, _with that last thought she drifted into darkness.

A/N: yes I know Barricade is EXREMELY out of character in this story but I think that there's a soft spot in him under all that armor X3


	12. Torture

**Protector XII**

A/N: sorry again for not updating in a while TT I really don't like the beginning of this chapter…mostly because my writers block attacked…again TT. Thank you to all the wonderful reviewers and the faves! Loves to all!!

Kory wasn't exactly sure how long she was asleep but she woken by Barricade slamming on the brakes.

"Get out," he said in a cold voice as he flung one of the doors in the back open. Not needing to be told twice, Kory scrambled out of Barricade, closely followed by Frenzy. The instant the two of them were out, Barricade transformed as a F22 jet passed over them. The jet sharply turned around and transformed once it was over them. The ground under Kory's feet shook violently causing her to fall over when the new Decepticon landed.

His glowing red eyes met Barricade's in a fierce and condescending manner. After the two of the giant mechs shared angry glares, the jet turned to their prisoner and glared at her hard. Kory backed away from the jet Decepticon and towards Barricade's foot. Said Decepticon jerked his foot away from her.

"Don't touch me," he growled. "Disgusting flesh bag." Kory looked up at Barricade with a confused expression in her face. The jet laughed lowly and snatched her up from the ground.

Starscream's hold on Kory was like a vice, slowly squeezing the air from her lungs. Noticing the human's gasping breaths for air, he laughed darkly and loosened his hold on her enough so she could breathe.

"Don't worry puny fleshling, I intend on having my fun with you before trading you with those slagging Auto-brats," he growled in a menacing tone as he strode over to an old abandoned warehouse that Kory had just noticed.

The instant Starscream shoved open the doors to the shady looking building, Kory recognized the helicopter mech from the attack at her house. Blackout saw Kory and whipped out his arm canon. The Decepticon holding her yelled something at the lower ranking mech in Cybertronian. Growling lowly Blackout, reluctantly, put his weapon away. The silver robot then walked over to a box then had a cage on top of it and dropped her inside. _Caged, caged like a wild animal, _Kory thought to herself as she sat in the center of her barred prison. Hearing another mech entering the building she looked up and saw Barricade striding in.

Barricade nodded to his comrades, then looked at Kory. His spark ached when he saw her deep blue eyes gazing at him, shining with unshed tears. _I'm sorry Kory, _he thought to himself sadly as he strode over to where the others were standing discussing battle tactics and such.

That night the temperature dropped to the mid sixties and Kory was freezing in her metal cage. Shivering, she sat up with her back against the bars and drew her knees to her chest. Closing her eyes she tried to get her mind off the cold around her. She tried to think of warm things, like the beach or sitting in front of a warm fireplace. _Better yet curled up with my blanket in bed, _Kory thought as she felt her lids start to grown heavy._ Yah, curled up and watching a movie with Ironhide. _With that last thought the darkness took her.

The young woman was jolted awake, what felt like minutes later, by a large hand smacking her enclosure. The sheer sound that the cage made was enough to wake the dead and left a painful ringing noise in her ears. Moaning slightly, she covered her ears at the sound and forced her eyes to open themselves. What she saw was Blackout glaring at her through the bars of the cage. Narrowing her dark blue eyes at his glowing red ones, she gave him a glare that would have rivaled Megatron's . _There's no way in hell that I'm gonna be intimidated by an overgrown toaster, _she thought angrily. Then she noticed that the helicopter mech was missing an optic. Kory grinned inwardly when she saw that.

"What're you staring at Cyclops?" She shot at him in the best angry voice that she could muster. The Decepticon growled in anger, picked up her cage and shook it around a few times. Kory tried to grab onto one of the bars but everything was moving too fast. Her back made contact with the bars first and then her left side, accompanied by the sound of several ribs cracking. She barely noticed the sound of raised voices over the fact that her prison had stopped moving. Breathing heavily, and wincing at the pain in her left side, she sat herself up and saw that her savior was none other then Barricade. The Decepticon was relieved to see Kory get up, but the look on her face showed that she was _not _happy to see him.

"Oh so _now _you care," she said angrily as she tried to stand. However, a stabbing pain in her side forced her to lean back against the bars. Making sure that no one else was around, Barricade leaned in close to her and whispered the best he could.

"Not when they're watching," with that said he stood back up and walked away.

No sooner had he left the room, Starscream came strutting in. The jet glanced at Kory and a wicked grin spread across his face as he walked over to her and picked up her cage.

"I wonder," he said aloud. "How much torture can a human body endure?" Kory's heart rate spiked and adrenalin started to pump through her veins when he said this. Starscream simply continued to grin to himself and carried her down the hall to his lab.

30 minutes later

Starscream was surprised how long Kory endured his 'playing' before she passed out. Dumping her back into her cage he the put her back in the main space of the warehouse and left her there to rot.

Kory was unconscious for about three hours, until her mind brought her back to the real world. When she woke she was facedown on the bottom of her prison. It was dark outside so she figured that it was evening and everyone was asleep. Her entire body was numb with cold, until she moved. She wanted to scream in pain but her throat was already raw from her screaming almost four hours ago. Tears stung her eyes as she tried to move her arms. She could move her right but her left hung uselessly at her side.

Using her only working arm and her legs a little, she managed to sit herself up. Sighing she closed her eyes in accomplishment, then she fell onto her back. This caused her to scream as tears of rage and pain streamed down her face. _Damn it, _she cursed in her mind. _God fucking DAMN IT! _Apparently her scream was loud enough to wake one of the Decepticons.

"Primus," she heard a voice say softly. Rolling her head to one side she saw that it was Barricade.

"What the Pit did he do to you?" The cop car asked, even though he already knew the answer. A weak smiled tugged at the corner of Kory's dry lips. With her only working arm, she reached out to him. Seeing her small hand reaching for him though the bars he lifted a finger and let her hold it.

Scanning the young woman's body he found that she had three fractured ribs, from Blackout shaking her around, her left arm was dislocated, she had multiple bruises, both from Starscream and Blackout, and second and third degree burns on her back. Completing the scan he looked down at Kory and saw that she was unconscious again. _She won't survive another day of this, _he thought to himself as he figured out the warehouse's coordinates on a map. Once he had the coordinates he sent them to the mech he knew would beat the living slag out of anyone that had harmed her. Ironhide.

A/N: I tried to write out the torture scene but it came out all weird sounding…so I just skipped ahead XD I love the scene with Kory reaching out to Barricade X3


	13. Rescue, Wrath and Healing

**Protector XIII**

A/N: AHHHHH!!! I'm SO sorry for not updating sooner! TT my writers block ate my face in the beginning of the chapter and towards the end I had to do SO MUCH research on how to tend to Kory's wounds it was REDICULOUS!! I hop you all feel love because I have hardly left my computer ALL DAY so I could finish this chapter! Be happy, it's long. Six pages on word.

It was in the wee hours of the morning when Ironhide received a message from an unknown source. Breaking down the code he felt his energon freeze.

"Barricade," he growled. Storming out of his quarters he went to the command room to find Optimus.

Optimus had been using the government's satellites to try and triangulate where Barricade might have taken Kory. Unfortunately he was having no such luck. Sighing he rubbed the bridge of his nose in frustration. It had been over twenty four hours and they were still at square one. The blue and red mech was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of Ironhide entering the room.

"Optimus, I just received a message from the Decepticons," he said transferring the message to the main computer. The message was simple: 113.9N-46.98SW.

"Who sent this?" Optimus asked, his optics not leaving the screen.

"Barricade," the black Autobot answered, his canons twitching slightly. There was a pause between the two.

"Wake the others," was Optimus's simple reply as he entered the coordinates into the computer. Ironhide nodded and stormed down the halls. _We're coming Kory, _he thought as he banged on Jazz's door.

Not even five minutes later the rest of the Autobots on base, Jazz and Ratchet, were awake and in the control room.

"How do we know this ain't a trap?" Jazz asked his arms folded across his chest.

"We don't," was Optimus's simple reply as he turned and looked at his second in command.

"What is our plan of attack?" Ratchet asked walking up to Optimus. The red and blue Autobot sighed and thought for a moment.

"Ironhide, contact Bumblebee, we leave in two hours," the lead Autobot replied.

Two and a Half Hours Later at the Decepticon Base

Kory hadn't moved from her position all night. When her dark blue eyes focused she noticed that Barricade was gone. She wasn't surprised, she knew that if the others saw him acting like that he'd be finished. Forcing herself to sit she blinked several times and realized that it still must have been fairly early since none of the other Decepticons were up yet.

Just as she was about to close her eyes she heard something. Forcing herself to her feet she staggered over to the edge of the cage, closed her eyes and listened. It sounded almost like thunder in the distance, but it was getting closer. Realization hit her like a ton of bricks. It was the Autobots. For the first time in twenty four hours she felt relief. This was abruptly squashed by the roaring sound of a jet engine overhead. There was the familiar sound of shifting metal and gears as both factions transformed into their bipedal forms, followed closely by a series of explosions.

The ground shook and caused Kory to collapse in a heap in the middle of the cage. Wincing at the stinging pain in her back she forced herself to her feet, using the bars as support. No sooner had she done this a mech came crashing thorough the door. It was Blackout. Said mech growled and started to get back up but was tackled by a certain black Autobot. The two robots wrestled for a few seconds until he pointed his canon at Blackout's head.

"WHERE IS SHE?!" He yelled in the Decepticon's face, canon glowing with charged energy.

"IRONHIDE!!" Kory yelled in a hoarse voice, tears leaking from her dark blue eyes. Said Autobot fired several shots into the helicopter's chest, and then ran over to where the voice had come from.

"Kory!" He gasped when he saw her in the cage. Ripping the top off he reached down and let Kory climb into his warm hand.

"Optimus I have her. Lets blow this joint," with that said he sat her down on the ground and was just about to transform when another Decepticon entered the old warehouse. Without hesitation, the black Autobot opened fire onto the unsuspecting transformer, not caring that he had been the one that sent the message.

Barricade took the hits and staggered into the adjacent wall. Holding his side he looked down and saw energon leaking between his fingers. He wasn't surprised by Ironhide's reaction. How could he be? He had taken away Kory, _his _Kory. The weapons specialist aimed his canon at Barricade again and was just about to fire, but he was stopped short by someone he least expected.

"Stop!" Kory half yelled grabbing into Ironhide's foot for support, her side was killing her and she was having problems breathing. Feeling the young woman's hand on his foot he, reluctantly, powered down his canons and looked down at her. What he saw almost made his spark go out. Kory was doubled over in pain and was coughing up blood.

"RATCHET!!" The black mech yelled as he kneeled down beside Kory, feeling so helpless. Seconds later said medic came running in and was instantly at Kory's side. Completing a quick scan he found that her throat was raw and that's where the blood was coming from, but that wasn't what was causing her so much pain. A nearby explosion caused him to stop mid scan.

"We have to get her back to the base, I can't treat her here," no sooner had he said that he shifted into his secondary form and opened the back doors. Kory crawled into the back of the ambulance, wincing all the way, and laid down. Speeding away from the warehouse and the battle, Bumblebee escorted them back to the base.

Kory faded in and out of consciousness as Ratchet continued down the road, sirens blaring. _I have to tell them, _Kory thought as she tried to sit herself up, her ribs screaming in protest at the movement.

"Kory I know you're in a lot of pain from what Barricade did to you but-" the medic was cut of.

"Not…Barricade," Kory ground out, her voice filled with pain. "Star…scream." There was a pause then Ratchet radioed Ironhide

"_Ironhide," _the medic called. There was the sound of crunching metal. _"IRONHIDE!" _He yelled, apparently the black mech was busy beating the slag out of someone.

"_What Ratchet?!" _He yelled back. _"I'm busy." _There was a painful groan in the background. Even through the communicator the medic knew that it was Barricade.

"_Ironhide, it wasn't Barricade. It was Starscream," _the medic felt a twinge of pity for the Decepticon. There was a pause.

"_THAT FRAGGING PIT SUCKING PIECE OF PRIMUS FORSAKEN SCRAP! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON HIM-" _Ratchet cut off the connection before he had to endure anymore of Ironhide's colorful language. Focusing more of his sensors on Kory he found that the young woman was unconscious.

Back at the Decepticon Base

Ironhide transformed and sped out of the warehouse. Once back on the battlefield he instantly honed in on the mech that had hurt his Kory. His engine growled lowly as he sped up and transformed while at top speed. This caused Ironhide to go catapulting onto the jet and tackling him to the ground. Optimus was completely unfazed by this, until he saw Ironhide's eyes. They were a dark purple with a hint of red.

The black Autobot grabbed Starscream by the neck and threw him a good fifty feet. The jet pushed himself to his feet, only to be thrown back by Ironhide's canon fire that had blasted off one of his legs in the process. This time, before the Decepticon could even sit up, the weapons specialist was on him.

"I'm gonna make you pay for what you did to Kory," he growled. Whipping out one of his canons he pressed it against one of his wings and blasted a hole in it. Starscream howled in pain as energon leaked from the gaping hole in his wing and where his left leg used to be.

"Oh that's nothing compared to what I'm gonna do next," as he said this he used his free hand to rip away the armor covering his spark. That was when Optimus stepped in.

"That's _enough_ Ironhide," Optimus said in his deep voice as he pulled Ironhide off the crippled jet. Ironhide struggled against the taller mechs hold, but the red and blue Autobot was unyielding.

"Yah leave some for me," Jazz said as he whipped out his canon.

"Jazz," Optimus said in a warning tone. The shorter Autobot growled lowly and put away his canon. Looking back at Ironhide, the leader of the Autobots noticed that his eyes were back to their normal blue. The black mech shrugged off Optimus's hold, transformed into his secondary form and headed back t the base, Jazz and Optimus not far behind him.

Back at the base Ratchet had an unconscious Kory in the medical bay and was running a detailed diagnostic scan on her body. She had three fractured ribs from, as far as he could tell, a blow from some sort of object. However, what disturbed him most were the injuries that had the appearance of torture. The young woman's left arm was dislocated and had been so for as least the pat 12 hours, which was going to make the recovery more painful. Then there were the second degree burns on her back, there was one third degree burn in the center of her shoulder blades. That was what concerned him the most.

Activating his hologram, Ratchet rolled Kory onto her stomach and very carefully cut open the back of her burned shirt. The seasoned medic couldn't help but wince at the sight of the blistering flesh on Kory's fair skin.

"Bumblebee I need you to soak some bandages in cool water and get me some antibiotic cream," he said to the yellow mech. Bee activated his hologram and did as Ratchet demanded of him.

After soaking the second degree burns for fifteen minutes, Ratchet then started to apply the cream with surprising tenderness. Ratchet knew how frail the human body was and he was taking every precaution he knew to assure her recovery. Even as he worked he was searching the web for the best treatment for his young patient.

When finished bandaging the second degree burns with Telfa, he ran another scan on Kory checking her vitals. He cursed under his breath when he found that her heart rate and breathing were slowing down, and it wasn't because she was unconscious.

"Bumblebee, get me an IV kit from the cabinet over the sink," Ratchet said as he quickly cleaned the back of Kory's hand with a gauze pad. About thirty seconds later the medic had her on an IV drip to keep her hydrated. When her vital stabilized, he started to work on the one third degree burn.

Most of the skin around the burn was charred black but had a few translucent white patches as well. Bee dampened another cloth and handed it to the medic.

"Thank you for your help Bumblebee. I have everything under control now," Ratchet said looking at the younger hologram. Bee nodded in understanding and his hologram dissipated.

By the time Ratchet was finished bandaging Kory's back, Optimus, Jazz and Ironhide were back. The medic was in the middle of relocating the young woman's shoulder when Ironhide came barging in.

"Get out!" Ratchet yelled at the weapons specialist, not taking his hand off Kory's shoulder. Optimus, hearing Ratchet's raised voice, walked in as well. Growling, Ratchet carefully sat Kory's arm back down and turned off his hologram.

"WHAT PART OF GET OUT DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!" The medic yelled as he picked up a wrench and hurled it at Ironhide's head. There was the loud clang of metal as the wrench made contact with its target. The yellowish colored medic then proceeded to shove the two Autobots out of the med bay.

As Ratchet mumbled under his breath about dismantling Ironhide, he was pulled from his thoughts by a soft moan. Kory was waking up and was trying to sit up. Reactivating his hologram he helped her sit up.

"'Hide?" Kory mumbled as he tried to focus her eyes on something.

"No Kory, its Ratchet," the medic said softly. "Kory, I need to relocate your shoulder." He said as he lifted her arm so it was parallel to the floor. His young patient winced and moaned in pain as he did this and rested her head against his holograms shoulder.

"I know it hurts. Don't worry, I'll give you something for the pain soon," as he said this he rested his free hand on the back of her shoulder and gently eased the bone back into place. Kory winced and clenched her other hand into a fist.

"There you go," he whispered as he wrapped her arm in a sling. Looking down he found that Kory, despite the pain, was unconscious again. Smiling slightly he laid her back down and deactivated his hologram. Back in his usual form he, ever so gently, picked Kory up, IV and all, and carried her to where she would be staying for the next week or so.

It was a small room connected to the med bay and was in proximity of the mess hall. Ratchet figured this was the most practical place for her to stay, considering that if anything was to happen they would be near by. Laying her down on the bed he activated his hologram again and covered her with a blanket. Once he was sure that Kory was stable and sleeping soundly he added a small morphine drip to her IV to keep the pain from overwhelming her. Sighing. the medic left Kory's room and headed to Optimus's office to report on Kory's condition.

"How is Kory?" The red and blue Autobot asked when Ratchet entered his office, offering him a seat. The medic took the seat in front of his leader and sighed.

"Starscream tortured her Optimus," the medic said in a flat tone. Optimus cringed inwardly at the very thought of the jet Decepticon torturing the young woman.

"She has three fractured ribs, multiple bruises, her left arm was dislocated, and mostly second degree burns on her back with one third degree between her shoulder blades," Ratchet said with the slightest hint of anger in his voice. "I need to contact Capitan Lennox and ask him if he could possibly acquire a brace for Kory's ribs." Optimus simply nodded in understanding and told Ratchet that Lennox could be reached by his home number.

As Ratchet talked with Optimus, Ironhide snuck into Kory's room. He didn't care of the medic dismantled him later he needed to see his Kory. Entering the room he activated his hologram and walked up to her bed. Kneeling beside her sleeping figure he couldn't help but feel solely responsible for her condition. Carefully taking her hand in his large ones he rubbed it slightly.

"'Hide?" A raspy voice said. Said Autobot jerked his head up and his bright blue eyes met her deep blue ones. He then said the first thing that he could think of.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered as he brought her hand to his forehead.

"'S not…you're fault," she murmured. It was taking so much effort for her to speak and stay awake.

"You should get some rest," he said as he pushed himself to his feet to leave. He was stopped by Kory's tightening her hold on his hand.

"Don't…go," she choked out, tears leaking from her eyes. Ironhide felt his spark wrench painfully.

"Shhhhh, don't cry," he soothed as he wiped away her tears. "Alright I stay with you, but only until you fall asleep." As he said this he laid down on the bed with her. Ignoring the pain in her side and back, Kory moved closer to the black haired hologram and muttered two simple words into his chest.

"Love…you."

A/N: its almost 1AM here…my eyes feel like their gonna fall out of my head


	14. Flowers, Braces and Optimus

**Protector XIV**

A/N: Please don't kill me. I know it's been almost a MONTH since I last updated but I started college and all sorts of things got in the way TT please don't hate me TT hides behind Jazz and Ironhide

Ironhide was floored. Gazing down at the young woman in his arms he opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out, giving him a resemblance to a fish out of water. Kory looked up at him. Her dark blue eyes were half closed and had a slightly disorientated look about them, no doubt from the morphine. The weapons specialist couldn't help but smile down at her. The young woman smiled tiredly and drifted into unconsciousness.

The next time Kory woke, she was alone. Wincing at the twinge of pain in her side, she sat herself up and looked around. The room was large enough for an Autobot to stay in but had a human sized table and several chairs.

Looking at the bedside table she found a small bouquet of Black Eyed Susan's on it. Kory couldn't help but grin. She knew they were from Sam. He was the only one that knew they were her favorite flower. Kory's attention was pulled from the flowers by the sound of heavy footfalls. It was Ratchet.

The medic saw that his patient was awake and smiled slightly. Kneeling down beside her, he checked her vitals and her ribs.

"How long was I out?" Kory asked in a raspy voice, her throat still very raw. The yellow Autobot finished his scan and paused as if in thought.

"Approximately 12 hours and 26 minutes," he replied. "Sam came by earlier and dropped of the flowers."

"I figured it was Sam, he's the only one that knows they're my favorites," Kory said softly. No sooner had she said that, Sam stuck his head in the door. He didn't notice that Kory was awake as he spoke opened his mouth to speak to the medic. Just as he was about to say something he saw that Kory was awake.

"Hey," Kory said weakly, a soft smile on her face.

"Kory!" Sam exclaimed she he, without thinking, threw his arms around the young woman's frame. Fortunately, the morphine blocked out a vast amount of the pain so Kory was able to give her friend a one armed hug. Ratchet let Sam hug Kory, but only for a few seconds. Clearing his throat to get the two humans attention, the medic locked eyes with Sam.

"Is there something you wanted to tell me Sam?" Ratchet asked trying not to sound annoyed at the fact that the teen had probably just caused more damage to his friend's ribs.

"Oh yah, Will's here with the brace," Sam said as he stood back up and went to go get the man known as Will.

"Who's Will?" Kory asked looking up at the yellow Autobot.

"He's a friend of ours, he assisted us in the battle against Megatron," was the medic's reply. Kory opened her mouth to ask him something else, but was stopped short when someone said her name.

"Kory?" A voice said in disbelief. Said girl whipped her head around. Standing in the doorway of the room was Capitan William Lennox. Tears filled her eyes when the Capitan's brown eyes met her deep blue ones. Will dropped the brace he was carrying, sprinted over to Kory and threw his arms around her, being as careful as he could of her shoulder and ribs.

"I'm so sorry, Kory. I'm so sorry that I couldn't be there," the Capitan whispered as he held the young woman close. Kory clung to the Capitan like lifeline. Closing her eyes, tears of mixed emotions leaked from them. Ratchet scanned Kory's body after a few seconds and found that she was unconscious. Will noticed this and, with tenderness only a new father possesses, laid her back down on her bed.

"I take it that the two of you are acquainted," Ratchet said as Will picked up the brace he had dropped. The Capitan sighed and sat the brace on the table beside Kory's bed.

"Her father and I were close," Will sighed as he ran a hand through his cropped hair. "We served in the Army together and I was the best man at his wedding."

"What did you mean when you said that you were sorry that you couldn't be there for her?" The medic asked, his curiosity getting the best of him. The Capitan sighed again.

"It's not my placed to tell you. Let's just say I wasn't there for her when she needed someone," with that said he left the room. Ratchet looked down at his young patient and sighed.

There was so much that they still didn't know about her and her family. From when he stayed with the young woman he knew that she didn't like hospitals and, judging by the few pictures he had seen around the house, she lived with her mother. However he was confused because he never sensed another person in the house, more or less seen evidence of anyone else being in the house. Rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration he left Kory's room to let her rest.

Kory woke to the sound of someone's voice. At first she thought that it was all part of her dream but the more the voice persisted, the more and more real it felt.

"Kory, Kory, wake up," the voice said. Moaning slightly, Kory forced her dark blue eyes to open themselves. Blinking several times she found the hologram of Ratchet standing beside her bed.

"What Ratchet?" Kory asked tiredly as she rubbed her eyes with her only working hand.

"I need to change the bandages on your back," the medic said as he helped sit his patient up. Kory scratched the back of her hand where the IV was still embedded.

"Can you take the IV out now? I don't think you have to worry about me getting dehydrated again," Kory said with a small smile. The medic scanned her, checking her vitals and found that all of them were stable.

"Very well," Ratchet said. "But if you feel the _slightest _bit faint, please for the love of Primus, tell me." With that said he removed the needle from the back of Kory's hand with precision that he alone possessed. After bandaging the young woman's hand, his hologram dissipated and he kneeled beside her, his hand on the floor beside her for her to climb in.

Minutes later Ratchet was in the med bay cleaning and re-bandaging Kory's back. It had only been a little over 24 hours so he didn't expect there to be much of a change in the burns, and there wasn't. Kory lay on her stomach as Ratchet worked with speed and precision, for which she was quite grateful considering the morphine was wearing off and a dull throb of pain was starting to annoy her.

Kory had just slid the clean sleeveless that Ratchet had given her over the brace for her ribs when the door to the med bay opened and a tall red and blue Autobot strode in. The only reason Kory recognized Optimus was because he had been the one to knock her from Blackout's grasp before she had been kidnapped. Judging by the way that he carried himself and he air of authority he gave off, she assumed he was the leader. The red and blue mech nodded at the medic in acknowledgement, then turned to Kory. Said girl shifted uncomfortably under the bright blue optics of the tall mech.

"I don't believe we've been introduced," the unfamiliar Autobot said. As he said that he activated his hologram. His hair was a deep chocolate brown and was cut a bit shorter then Ironhide's, accented by his bright blue eyes. He stood about 6'3" and had a strong build about him, not as prominent as Ironhide but still well defined.

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots," he said as he extended a hand to Kory with a soft smile on his lips. Kory smiled and shook his hand.

"Kory Mathis," she said as she released his hand. The hologram Optimus nodded in understanding then dissipated.

"I am glad to see that you are awake and moving about," he said taking a seat beside her. Kory laughed slightly as she ran a hand through her hair.

"I think the only reason I'm out of bed is because Ratchet had to change my bandages," she said with a smile, her dark blue eyes looking up at him. The lead Autobot was about to say something when Jazz came sprinting into the med bay. Ignoring the yells from Ratchet he strode over to Optimus.

"_Sir we have an incoming Decepticon," _he said in an uncharacteristically serious tone. Even though Kory didn't know what they were saying she knew it couldn't be anything good by the tone in the second in commands voice and the serious look that spread across Optimus's face.

"_Do we know who it is?" _He asked as he stood back up.

"_It's Barricade."_

A/N: yes, yes I KNOW! This chapter was extremely boring and had no 'Hide Kory action. The next one will be better I promise! And it WON'T be another month until I update!


	15. Visitors and the Trigger

**Protector XV**

A/N: See? I TOLD you it wouldn't be another month! XP

Kory didn't know their native tongue but she was able to pick out the black and white Decepticon's name.

"Barricade?" Kory said in an almost happy tone. The two Autobots looked down at the young woman with surprise. Optimus gave a look to Ratchet and the medic picked the teen up before she could say anything else.

"Hey!" Kory yelled to Optimus as he walked away with Jazz. "I wanna see him." The red and blue mech gave Kory an unsure look.

"He won't hurt me," she said in a pleading voice. The Autobot sighed and held out a hand for her to climb into. Kory couldn't help but smile at her small victory as Ratchet sat her in their leader's hand.

When the three of them arrived at the entrance, Barricade was just transforming into his bipedal mode. No sooner had he done this he saw Kory in Optimus's hand. He wanted to greet her but he was currently being held at gun point by Bumblebee and Ironhide, who looked like he was about to blow him to pieces any minute. Optimus nodded to Bee and Ironhide to lower their weapons. Reluctantly, they obliged.

"What do ya want?" Jazz asked in an angry tone. Barricade glared at the shorter mech angrily.

"I came to see that Kory was alright," he said in an insulted and angry tone. This caught everyone by surprise, except for Optimus. The red and blue mech smiled slightly and took a few steps toward the Decepticon.

Optimus was one of the few mechs that Barricade respected. Sure he had respected Megatron, but now that he was gone he was defiantly not going to respect Starscream as a leader. The black and white mech bowed his head in respect. Before either of them could say anything Kory spoke.

"Hey Barricade," she said, a smile plastered across her face. The black and white Decepticon was surprised that the Autobots allowed her to leave the med bay. Barricade looked down at Kory and couldn't help but smile slightly. The young woman turned back to Optimus.

"Can Barricade and I talk alone?" She asked.

"Kory," the red and blue mech sighed.

"Please," she begged looking up at him with her deep blue eyes, giving him the best puppy-dog look she could. The Decepticon was surprised when Optimus bent to the will of the young woman. He smirked inwardly. No mech could have done such a thing, yet it took this small human less then a minute to do so. The leader of the Autobots extended the hand that Kory was standing in to Barricade. Kory hugged Optimus's index finger, then crawled into Barricade's clawed one.

The black and white Decepticon glanced at Ironhide and smirked inwardly. Ironhide looked as if he was about to blow a circuit with anger. Optimus nodded to Bumblebee and Ironhide to leave, to give the two of them some privacy.

Once all the Autobots were gone Barricade sat down, leaning his back against the concrete wall.

"How do you feel?" He asked the young woman in his hand, genuinely concerned for her health. Kory shrugged slightly, but instantly regretted it. Her healing shoulder was _not _happy to be moved.

"Sore," was her simple reply. Barricade sighed and looked away from her. Ashamed that he was responsible for her suffering.

"I'm so sorry Kory," he said miserably. Said girl cocked her head to one side in confusion. Then she understood.

"Oh Barricade this wasn't your fault," she said sympathetically. "Starscream's the one that's responsible." The two toned mech shook his head.

"I should have foreseen it," he said angrily, his red eyes flaring. "He's a disgrace to our race and doesn't deserve to remain functional." There was a pause between the two of them.

"Barricade! Your side!" Kory exclaimed, breaking the silence. The Decepticon looked down at his side and saw that he was leaking energon. Wincing he pushed himself to his feet.

"I should go," he said as he sat Kory down on a table close to him.

"No!" She yelled in protest, grabbing onto one of his long digits. "Let Ratchet fix you, then you can go." Barricade looked back down at Kory. The two of them stared at each other for a good minute until the mech gave.

"Alright," he sighed. "But you're going to have to do the convincing." With that said he gathered Kory into his hands and followed the young woman's directions to the med bay.

Ratchet was pulled from his research by the sound of the door hissing open. Turning from the large computer screen, his optics widened when he saw the Decepticon standing there. Before he could even ask he saw the energon leaking from Barricade's right side, forming a rather large puddle under his right leg. The cop car limped over to a recharge bead and sat Kory down, while steadying himself. Looking down at Kory the medic saw the pleading look in her dark blue eyes.

"Kory-" he started.

"Damn it Ratchet I don't care if he's a Decepticon!" The young woman yelled angrily, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. The medic sighed and rubbed his optics. _I know I'm going to regret this, _the yellow colored mech thought to himself.

Helping Barricade onto the recharge bed, he quickly assessed the damage and got out the necessary tools. Kory sat beside the black and white mech as Ratchet worked. Her and Barricade didn't talk, she simply sat beside him and played with his long fingers, perfectly content with her position.

Ratchet had just started soldering some of the wires back together when there was a deafening scream, a human scream. Dropping the laser took he quickly sought out Kory. The young woman was curled up in the fetal position with her hands clutching either side of her head. Ratchet cursed under his breath when he realized what had happened. _How could I have been so stupid! _The mech cured to himself. He knew that Kory had been burned on her back, but he never imagined _what _had been used to do it. Well know they knew.

A/N: Yes, yes I know: no Kory x 'Hide. The next chapter's gonna have some fluff in it, but mostly revealing of more of Kory's past.


	16. Supression and Sleep

**Protector XVII**

Ironhide was the first mech to come running into the med bay. The first thing the weapons specialist saw was his Kory curled up in a ball on the recharge bed beside the Decepticon. Whipping out his canon he pressed it to the mechs head.

"What did you do to her?!" He yelled in Barricade's face.

"Frag you Auto-byte," the cop car growled back.

Ratchet had activated his hologram and was kneeling beside the panicking teen, trying to calm her down. Every time the medic tried to touch her she whimpered and withdrew.

"Ironhide," Ratchet called to the weapons specialist. "I need you to calm her down so I can suppress her memories." Ironhide activated his black haired hologram and kneeled beside the young woman.

"Kory, Kory it's alright I'm here. No one's gonna hurt you," he soothed as he took Kory's shaking figure in his strong arms.

"It hurts," she sobbed into the mechs black t-shirt. "It hurts. Make him stop." All Ironhide could do was hold Kory close to him and whisper word of comfort in her ear as Ratchet tried to find the right frequency to hack into her memories, which was proving to be much more difficult then the medic had expected.

"Ratchet can you hurry it up a bit?" Ironhide asked, his voice bordering anger and frantic. The medic glared at he arms specialist with his dark brown eyes, but didn't say anything. Suddenly the medic winced when he finally managed to tap into Kory's triggered memories. Ratchet didn't want to see what Kory had been through, but he couldn't pull away.

_Kory screamed as Starscream brought the glowing laser tool down onto her flesh, a psychotic gleam in his blood red optics. Picking the small human up, not caring that he had just inflicted a third degree burn to her back, and twisted her left arm painfully. Kory screamed again but her voice was already raw, causing it to crack several times. The jet Decepticon then held her in his opened hand and an electric current shot through her body. Too weak to fight, Kory lay in his open hand and whimpered helplessly. After two more shocks the pain overwhelmed her and she passed out._

The medic had seen some pretty horrific things in his long life, but nothing compared to this. Making sure that the memories were pushed back deep into Kory's subconscious he was about to pull out when he was pulled into another memory. This one was almost four months old, but was still remarkably vivid.

_Kory was standing in front of her house in the driveway watching an older man fix their mailbox. He assumed that it was he father. Then there was the sound of splintering wood and screaming. A car had hit her dad._

Ratchet pulled away from Kory's now limp figure, panting slightly and his hologram dissipated.

"Take her back to her room," the medic said as he turned his attention back to Barricade, who had remained uncharacteristically silent thought the entire ordeal. Ironhide didn't protest. The black haired hologram faded and the mech carried Kory back to her room.

"Is she going to be alright?" Barricade asked once Ratchet started to repair his side. The yellow Autobot let out a deep sigh and rubbed his temples tiredly.

"I don't know, I really don't know."

Ironhide was almost back at Kory's room when the young woman in his hand stirred. Opening her dark blue eyes she looked up at Ironhide and tried to sit herself up.

"You shouldn't move your arm," he said looking down at her with his bright blue optics. Kory looked down and rubbed her shoulder distractedly. Her head then shot up.

"Is Barricade ok?" She asked in a worried tone. The weapons specialist sighed.

"Ratchet's taking care of his side then he's leaving," Ironhide replied in a flat tone. Kory looked back down and nodded in understanding.

"Hey 'Hide?" She said softly. Said Autobot looked back down at her, waiting for her to finish.

"Can…can I stay with you tonight?" Kory asked, heat rushing to her face. Again Ironhide was floored. The black Autobot hesitated before responding. He knew that Ratchet would have his skid-plate mounted to the med bay wall if he disobeyed him, but the idea of Kory sleeping with him easily outweighed the medic's wrath.

"Alright, but just for tonight," Ironhide replied as he turned and headed to his room.

Back In The Med Bay…

Ratchet had just finished soldering the circuits in Barricade's side when Optimus strode in. The red and blue mech nodded to the medic to give them a moment alone. Barricade sat himself up and looked at Optimus for a few seconds before quickly looking away. Eye contact was something that you never did with Megatron, not unless you had a death wish. Optimus seemed to notice this and smiled sadly.

"I know you're nothing like the other Decepticons," Optimus said looking at Barricade. The black and white mech wanted to yell back at the larger mech and tell him that he was like the others, but he knew that was a lie.

"It doesn't matter," the cop car sighed as he got to his feet.

"Barricade," Optimus said resting a hand on the black and white mechs shoulder. "If you ever doubt your allegiances, know that our door is open." There was a pause between the two of them.

"I should go," Barricade said. "I have patrol tonight." Before Optimus could say anything, the black and white mech had already shifted into his secondary form and was gone.

Back With Ironhide and Kory…

The black Autobot opened the door to his room and sat Kory down on the table beside his bed. Sitting down on his recharge bed he held out his hand for the young woman to climb into. Once she was in his hand, the weapons specialist sat her down beside him. Just as he was about to start his stasis sequence, he felt her climb up his arm and nestle herself in the crook of his neck. The black mech smiled slightly.

"Love you 'Hide," Kory whispered as she stroked the warm metal of Ironhide's neck softly.

"I love you too Kory," he whispered back as he drifted into stasis.

A/N: Yes finally some Kory x Ironhide fluff. I'm not particularly happy with this chapter TT but the next chapter I'll reveal and new character and Barricade's loyalties.


	17. Allegiances and Surprises

**Protector XVII**

It was almost six in the evening by the time Barricade arrived back at the base. Starscream was waiting for him. _Slag, _the black and white Decepticon thought to himself as he shifted into his bipedal form. He was mildly surprised that he was out and about considering the damage that Ironhide had inflicted on him.

"Where the frag have you been for the past three hours?!" The jet yelled at the cop car. Barricade glared at the jet with his blood red optics.

"None of your slagging business," he shot back as he shoved past him. Starscream grabbed Barricade by the shoulder and whipped him around.

"I asked you a question! And you _will _answer it!" The jet roared.

"Shove it up your afterburner," the two toned mech growled angrily. That did it. The silver mech pulled back and slammed his fist into the other mechs face. Barricade staggered back a few steps but quickly retaliated with a swift kick to Starscream's right side.

The two of them wrestled outside the base for a good five minutes until Starscream took a cheap shot at Barricade's freshly mended side with a missile. The black and white Decepticon roared in pain but refused to go down. Clutching his leaking side he glared back at the jet. Suddenly Optimus's voice rang out in his mind. _If you ever doubt your allegiances, know that our door is open. _Barricade glared at the silver jet, his eyes full of loathing and anger.

"You're worse then Megatron," he growled, his vice thick with pain. Starscream's face contorted with anger as he launched several more missiles at him. One slammed into his chest and the other missed his face by only a few inches. Not giving the jet another chanced to fire, Barricade quickly changed into his secondary form and sped off into the distance, leaving a trail of energon behind him.

At the Autobot Base

It was Jazz's turn as patrol and he was dying of boredom. Sighing heavily he had just sat down on a large rock just outside the base when his sensors picked up an approaching Decepticon. Readying his canon he prepared to fire.

"_Don't…fire," _a familiar, yet weak voice said.

"_Barricade?!"_ Jazz said in disbelief as the black and white cop car emerged from the surrounding trees. _"What in the name of Primus happened to you?" _Barricade let out a dry laugh.

"_Apparently I missed my curfew,"_ he said as he changed back into his natural form. Jazz was a good ten feet shorted then the other mech but that didn't mean he couldn't help him into the base. Draping one of Barricade's arms around his shoulders he let the cop mech use him as support. Once inside he called Ratchet over his com-link.

The medic was in the middle of reviewing some of the memories that he had seen on Kory's mind. One thing that disturbed him was when Starscream appeared to be electrocuting her. However, upon closer examination, he realized with horror that the jet had tried to force a spark bond upon her. _That fragging piece of-_, the medic was pulled from his thoughts by Jazz's voice over his com-link.

"_Yo, Ratchet," _the second in command called. _"I got someone here that could use a bit of help."_

By the time Jazz got Barricade into the base Ratchet was there and helped him the rest of the way into the med bay. Easing the black and white mech onto a table he scanned him to assess the damage. Some of Barricade's minor systems had already shut down to preserve energy. The medic quickly got to work trying to stop the Decepticon's 'bleeding' while Jazz tried his best to repair his damaged chest plate.

Two long and tedious hours later Barricade was stable and was in stasis. Ratchet sighed and rubbed his optics tiredly. Jazz had woken Optimus to inform him of the situation. The red and blue mech gave Jazz and Ratchet the rest of the night off and took over watch for the night.

Ironhide woke from his stasis to find that Kory was still asleep against the warm metal of his neck. The black mech grinned slightly and gently nudged her awake with a finger.

"Kory, time to wake up," he said softly. Said girl moaned slightly and cracked a dark blue eye open.

"What time is it?" She asked groggily as she carefully sat herself up.

"Seven am," came the Autobots reply. Kory moaned again and rubbed her eyes to get he sleep out of them.

"Far too early for me to be awake," she mumbled as she got to her feet and crawled into Ironhide's waiting hand.

Carrying Kory down the hallway he sensed an unfamiliar presence within the base. It was weak, but there none the less. Hoisting Kory into his shoulder he told her to hold on as he whipped out his canons. Sneaking down the hallway to the med bay he radioed Ratchet.

"_Ratchet, there's something in the med bay," _he said over the com-link.

"_Barricade returned to the base several hours after you went into sta-" _The medic didn't get to finish.

"_It's not Barricade," _the weapons specialist growled as his canons crackled with energy. There was a loud crash that came from inside the bay and, without thinking, Ironhide charged in.

The only thing the black Autobot saw was the unconscious form of Barricade on the recharge bed. He didn't lower his canons though, the unknown presence was in the room and he wasn't about to let it get away. Crossing the room to the Decepticon's sleeping figure he felt it. Ironhide, without even looking, pointed his crackling canon at the source of the odd presence.

The weapons specialist was shocked to see woman, perhaps a year younger then Kory, standing on the recharge bed beside Barricade with a look of sheer wonder on her face as she gazed at the unconscious mech. Whipping her head around, only to meet the business end of Ironhide's plasma canon, her hazel eyes went wide.

Kory crawled out from behind the black mechs head and saw the woman. She instantly recognized the long rusty colored hair that belonged to her good friend Al. _What the? How the hell did Al get here? _The older teen wondered. Realizing that her perch still had its weapons pointed at her friend she smacked the side of his head.

"Cut it out 'Hide," she said as she tried to climb down his shoulder. Reluctantly, Ironhide back down and helped the young woman down from his shoulder.

Once on the recharge bed, Kory strode up to Al and smacked her hard on the shoulder.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?!" She demanded.

"I could ask you the same thing," the red head responded, a grin spreading on her face as she folded her arms. Kory sighed and was about to say something else when Ratchet came stampeding in, closely followed by Jazz and Optimus. Al's eyes went wide once more when the three other Autobots entered the med bay.

"There're more of them?!" Al exclaimed, her eyes hazel lighting up excitedly. Kory moaned as she closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. It was way too early to be dealing with this.

A/N: yup, Barricades allegiances and a new character introduce, now the real question is: who's gonna fall for Al? Or who will Al fall for? This was a productive chapter. dodges a shoe YOU KNOW WHAT ITS NOT MY FAULT THAT COLLEGE IS A BITCH AND NEEDS TO DIE IN A CORNER!! stomps off and clutches 'Hide and Jazz plushies


	18. Back to the Med Bay and a Story

**Protector XVIII**

Before Kory could say anything Al had already ran across the recharge bed and up to Optimus, who was closest. The red headed teen was already rattling off all sorts on inane questions.

"OHMYGOD, HOWOLDAREYOU?WHERE'REYOU-" Al was abruptly silenced by Kory slapping her upside the head, hard. This caused Ratchet to grin slightly, knowing very well that he would have done the same thing of he had been in Kory's situation.

"Ow," Al whimpered as she rubbed the back of her head, a pain filled expression on her face.

"If you don't mind me asking," Optimus started in his deep voice. "How did you get inside our base?" Al turned from Kory and smiled up at the red and blue mech.

"Through the front door," she replied simply. There was a pause between the four mechs. Then Ratchet turned to Jazz.

"YOU DIDN'T CLOSE THE DOOR AFTER YOU'RE WATCH?!" The medic yelled as he reached for a wrench on the table. Jazz's optics widened slightly as he took a few steps back and got on the other side of Optimus.

"'Ey man, I had mah han's full, with Barricade leak'n energon allover me and half drag'n his aft in 'da door to close it," the silver Pontiac protested, his hands raised in defense. Ratchet raised the tool threateningly but stopped when the black and white Decepticon's optics came online. Ironhide picked up Kory and Al as the yellow medic shooed the three of them out of the med bay.

The black mech carried the two teens down the hall to the mess hall. The one known as Al would stop talking and asking Kory all sorts of questions, some of which she didn't even have answers for. Ironhide figured that Optimus was best suited for answering the young hazel eyed woman's questions.

"But _seriously _Kory," the younger of the two said. "How_ did_ you meet these guys?" Ironhide smirked at this question.

"Well…" Kory said rubbing the back of her neck. "You know Sam right?" Al's eyes widened.

"No way! _Sam _introduced you to them?!"

"It was an accident," Ironhide interjected as he sat then two of them down on one of the tables, ad thus began the long and complicated story of Kory and Ironhide's meeting.

Just as Kory and Ironhide finished their story Barricade entered the room, heavily favoring his left leg. Al furrowed her brow at this and turned to Kory with a questioning look on her face.

"That's Barricade," Kory explained. Al turned from her friend and took in Barricade's form for a minute. She didn't need to ask to know that he was different from the others, a Decepticon, well former one anyways.

Kory winced slightly and rubbed her shoulder distractedly. Ironhide saw the blue eyed teen rubbing her shoulder and scanned it quickly. The bone was still in place but the tendons holding it in place were inflamed. The black mech figured that the movement from yesterday had done nothing to help the healing process.

"Kory," Ironhide said. Said girl jumped and pulled her hand away from her shoulder.

"Yah?" She replied as she turned so she was looking at the weapons specialist.

"How long has your shoulder been bothering you?" He asked in a flat tone. The older teen winced at his tone and averted her gaze from his piercing blue optics. Ironhide sighed and rubbed his optics in mild irritation. _Stubborn as ever, _he thought as he picked Kory up and put her in one of his hands.

"'H-Hide put me down!" The teen stammered her face red with embarrassment. Ignoring Kory's demand the black mech made his way from the mess hall back to the med bay. The blue eyed teen's anger was coming off in waves, vaguely reminding him of Ratchet.

"Why didn't you just say something?" He asked in a slightly irritated tone after a few moments of walking in silence.

"I didn't want to bother Ratchet again," was Kory's soft reply as she rubbed her shoulder again. The weapons specialist snorted slightly at this.

"Please, Ratchet's a medic, he lives to fix others," he said as he rounded the corner to the bay. The door to the med bay hissed opened to reveal Ratchet sitting at the computer typing away.

"Ironhide, for the last fragging time, there's _nothing wrong with your canons!" _The yellow Autobot all but yelled as he continued to type, his fingers never slowing. The black mech snorted again and was about to say something when Optimus came over his com-link and called him to his office.

Kory sighed in relief. Her relief was short lived because the mech carrying her simply sat her down on the counter beside the medic and left. It wasn't that she didn't like the yellow medic, it was just the fact that he had already done so much for her that she really didn't want to bother him with anything else.

Ratchet turned from the large computer screen to see Kory standing beside him with a rather uncomfortable look on her face. Scanning her he found that the ligaments in her shoulder were inflamed and causing her quite a bit of pain. The yellow Autobot looked at Kory with the 'why didn't you come here sooner?' expression on his face as he rested his hand on the table in front of the teen.

"I didn't want to bother you," Kory said as she sat down in his warm hand. Ratchet understood her logic behind this and sighed as he sat her down on one of the tables.

"Kory, I'm head medic for the Autobots," he said as he activated his brown haired hologram. "Repairing is what I was made to do." With that said he pulled out another sling for Kory's arm and scanned it once more.

"How long have you and Al been acquainted?" He asked as he wrapped her arm in the sling. Kory grinned softly at Ratchets attempt at small talk.

"Well we met about two years ago, but we got really close this year," the blue eyed teen explained. The yellow mech remembered how she had bombarded Optimus with questions not five seconds after they had entered the room.

"Does she always ask so many questions?" He asked. This caused Kory to laugh slightly.

"If you don't ask questions, how are you supposed to learn anything?" She countered. This caused a rare smirk to tug at the corner of the medic's mouth.

"Good point. Now this time, try not to move so much," he said as he tightened the strap of the sling so her arm was flush against her.

"Thanks Ratchet," Kory said a small smile on her face as she kissed the holograms cheek in thanks.

Back in the Mess Hall…

Barricade was sitting at one of the table in the mess hall, minding his own business when he felt something on his foot. Looking down he found a woman with rusty colored hair trying to climb up his leg. The young woman, Al, kept falling off but se didn't stop trying. The black and white mech chuckled slightly. This in turn caused Al to look up and her hazel eyes were met by a pair of burning red optics.

The two of them regarded each other for a few seconds. Al reached up to the mech with her arms out stretched in a 'pick me up' fashion. Barricade reached down to the small human and gently picked her up with his long clawed fingers. Once he sat her down on the table she sat down in front of him and took in his facial features.

"So what's your story?" Al asked innocently as she cocked her head to one side. It was such a simple question, but held so much more meaning to the former Decepticon. Sighing he took a sip of his energon and began his long and complicated story and Al listened.

A/N: yes I know long time no update TT Hey I was working on this instead of my paper that's due in 2 weeks…FEEL LOVED!!! Ok just so all of you know the ENTIRE next chapter is Al x 'Cade and Kory x Ironhide fluff.


	19. Fluff, Snapping, and Nightmares

**Protector XIX**

Barricade was surprised to say the least when the young woman in front of him hung in his every word. He told Al his story, from when he was first confronted by Megatron to when he kidnapped Kory. The rust haired girl surprised him yet again when she didn't ask about why he did so.

The cop car was in mid sentence when Al yawned widely. This just caused a small grin to tug at the corner of the mechs mouth.

"It's late," he said as he reached down and picked up the young woman in front of him. Too tired to protest, Al simply nodded and climbed into the clawed hand in front of her. The black and white mech made his way to the med bay so Al would have a place to sleep for the night.

Ratchet was in the middle of researching the human central nervous system when he sensed Barricade and Al's approach. Picking up on the younger human's tiredness he got to his feet and prepared a room in the bay for her to sleep.

When Barricade appeared in the med bay doorway the medic had already taken his seat back at the computer. Glancing over his shoulder he looked at the black and white mech and pointed him in the right direction. The yellow Autobot couldn't help but grin inwardly as he watched the former Decepticon lay Al down in the bed with such care. Said girl opened her eyes sleepily and looked into the mechs glowing red ones.

"Stay with me?" She asked as she tightened her hold on one of his clawed fingers. Had Barricade been human, he would have been blushing profusely. He opened his mouth to protest but a glance into the young woman's hazel eyes he gave in. Sighing in defeat he concentrated and activated his hologram.

Al looked at the 25 year old looking hologram standing beside her bed and felt the blood rush to her cheeks. Barricade's hologram form stood about 6' tall and had a head of cropped black hair with white streaks on the side. His skin was slightly fair, causing the slight stubble on his firm jaw-line to stand out more. He wore a pair of slightly form fitting dark blue jeans and a tight black sleeveless, showing off his well defined muscles. All in all he looked completely human, until he took off his aviator sunglasses. Barricade's bright red eyes were even visible in the dim light of the room.

The red head was surprised when the hologram sat down in the bed beside her and she felt heat radiating from it. Reaching out to him she rested a hand on his forearm and was surprised to find that it was solid. Te look of surprise and amazement on Al's face caused a low laugh to rumble in Barricade's chest.

Turning so he was completely facing her, he looked at her for a moment and then did something that surprised himself. Very gently, he brushed a few strands of hair away from her face. Al smiled shyly as the blush on her cheeks deepened. The young woman opened her mouth to say something but all that came out was a tired yawn. Deciding that whatever she had wanted to say could wait, she curled up beside the warm hologram of Barricade and closed her eyes. This time he actually did blush. He was about to say something when he looked down and found that Al was already asleep.

This confused the mech. He had just told her his story, including the fact that he had killed countless Autobots and that he had kidnapped her friend. _Is she really that trusting? _He wondered to himself as he lay down beside the red head and stroked her long hair thoughtfully. _Who would have thought that I would someday share a bed with the vary race that I was ordered to exterminate, _he mused to himself as he closed his eyes and let himself fall into stasis.

Ratchet passed by the room about ten minutes later to see the young woman known as Al curled up beside the hologram of Barricade and was sleeping soundly. The medic grinned when Barricade, while asleep, moved closer to Al and wrapped his arms around her waist in a protective manner.

The yellow Autobot medic grinned at this and closed the door to the room, allowing the two of them some privacy. _I wonder…,_ Ratchet thought to himself, the grin still on his face, as he made his way to the mess hall.

On the Other Side of the Base…

Ironhide had just entered Optimus's office to find him sitting behind his desk with a grave look on his face as he looked through a stack of files. The black Autobot stood in front of the red and blue mechs desk, waiting for him to speak.

"Capitan Lennox informed me that NASA satellites picked up three unknown objects entering earth's atmosphere," the leader of the Autobots said seriously as he looked up. Ironhide sighed and sat down in one of the chairs in front of Optimus.

"Any ideas who we're gonna be dealing with?" The back mech asked. Optimus nodded.

"Jazz and Bumblebee finished decoding the signals awhile ago. They are Skywarp, Thundercracker, and Soundwave," the red and blue mech replied. The weapons specialist frowned. _Great just whet we need. Two more Seekers and a mech that can frag up your memory chips, _Ironhide thought to himself.

"All that's left to do is to inform Barricade of the situation," Optimus said. Ironhide's head shot up when the mech in front of him said this.

"You don't trust Barricade?" This was more of a statement then a question. The black mech narrowed his optics angrily as his canons twitched slightly.

"How can I?" Ironhide growled. Optimus knew that the old battle hardened mech had a soft spot for Kory, and with Barricade being responsible for kidnapping her, he knew that the black and white mech would have to do something pretty amazing to make up for that.

"That is all Ironhide," Optimus said in a tired tone as he turned back to the files on his desk. The black mech got to his feet, saluted and left.

In a mood, the weapons specialist stormed down the hallway. He was almost to the mess hall when he saw Kory. Noticing the new sling that she was sporting, he figured that she had stuck around in the med bay after he left.

The young woman smiled up at him, but then noticed the serious expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" Kory asked as she rested a hand on one of his giant feet.

"It's nothing Kory," the black mech replied unconvincingly, his hands clenched at his sides.

"'Hide-"

"I SAID IT'S NOTHING!" He yelled back at her, his deep voice reverberating through the entire base. Kory quickly withdrew her hand from him, clutching it to her chest, and backed away a few steps.

"Sorry," she said in a small voice, her dark blue eyes downcast to the floor as she tried so hard to contain her tears. _Oh frag, _Ironhide thought to himself when he realized what he had just done. Just as he was about to apologize, Jazz rounded the corner.

The silver mech frowned at the scene in front of him. The short tempered weapons specialist was standing there, his posture radiating discomfort, and a _very_ upset looking Kory at his feet. Approaching the two of them, he tilted his head to he was looking up at Ironhide.

"_Go," _the second in command said in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

"_Jazz-"_

"_I do __not __wanna hear it 'Hide!" _The silver Autobot snapped back in an icy tone. The weapons specialist snorted angrily, turned on his heel and stomped off to the firing range.

Once Jazz was sure that Ironhide was gone he kneeled beside Kory and let her climb into his hand. Kory wiped away the stray tears that had leaked from her deep blue eyes and sat down in the second in commands warm hand.

As the silver Autobot walked down the hall he scanned Kory's body and found that she was extremely tired. Hailing Ratchet over his personal line he told him that he was bringing Kory over so she could sleep. The yellow medic cursed under his breath. When Jazz asked what was wrong Ratchet told him that Al and Barricade were taking up the only spare room they had. Sighing internally he told Ratchet that he'd bee keeping Kory with him for the night.

A few minutes later the two of them were in his room. Kory looked around and noticed that both his and Ironhide's rooms were almost exactly the same. The difference being that the latter of the two often had spare parts of canons scattered around his room for repairs.

Once Jazz laid down he picked up Kory and sat her down on his chest plate where it was warmest. He had just started to go into stasis when Kory spoke.

"Jazz?" The blue eyed teen said softly.

"Yah?" There was a pause between the two of them. Kory knew what she wanted to ask, she just wasn't quite sure how to go about asking it.

"C-Can you…?" She trailed off at the end and suddenly found her hands very interesting. The second in command grinned in understanding.

Kory jumped slightly when she felt a pair of warm arms around her. Looking over her shoulder she came face to face with a pair of deep brown eyes. Turning around she wrapped her arms around Jazz's neck and shook with silent sobs.

A sad smiled tugged at the corner of the holograms mouth as he tightened his hold on his 'little sister' and let her cry.

"Shhh, its ok," he whispered soothingly. "He snaps at everyone. Don't take it to heart." Kory knew that the black mech hadn't meant it, but that wasn't what got her the most.

"He scared me Jazz," she cried as she clutched Jazz's white shirt in her hands. A laugh rumbled in his chest.

"Slag he scares everyone," Jazz paused, a smile on his face. "'Cept for maybe Ratchet, that guy scares even Optimus." Kory laughed slightly at the mental image of Ratchet chasing Optimus around the base with a welder in one hand. This caused Jazz to smile and he rubbed her back comfortingly. Shortly after that Kory fell asleep in the warm and loving arms of her 'older brother'.

30 Minutes Later…

Kory woke with a start to a horrifying dream. Panting and shaking she rested her head in her hands to try and ease her pounding heart. _It felt so real, _the young woman thought to herself. _But…it was just a dream right? _Sighing, she eased herself off of the sleeping form of Jazz, his hologram had dissipated shortly after she went to sleep, and left to get something to drink in the mess hall.

However, she quickly found that she had absolutely no idea where she was in the base. Leaning against the wall for support she rubbed her aching shoulder and sighed. _They should give out maps of this place, _she thought to herself as she started to wander again.

After about five minutes of aimless turns she found herself in a familiar hallway. It was the hall that Ironhide's room was in. Resting her hand against the smooth and cool metal of the huge door, she debated whether or not to knock.

"Please don't be mad at me," the blue eyed teen whispered to herself.

"I could never stay mad at you Kory," Ironhide's deep voice said from behind the door. The young teens head shot up, dark blue eyes wide with surprise.

The door to the black mechs room slid open with a soft hiss. Entering the weapons specialist's room, she found him sitting on his recharge bed cleaning his canons. As she crossed the length of the room Ironhide scanned her and found that she was extremely tired, but her entire body was tense. Then the two of them switched the roles they had played earlier.

"What's wrong?" The black Autobot asked as he put away his canons. The young woman in front of him sighed and ran a hand though her chin length brown hair, which was in desperate need of a wash.

"It was just a bad dream," Kory said as she rubbed her sore shoulder again. Normally the weapons specialist would have just dropped it there, but he knew that Kory was no pansy. Whatever the dream had been about, it _really _got under her skin.

"Come here," he said softly as he held out his hand in front of her to climb into. Accepting Ironhide's offer she found herself sitting down on the recharge bed beside the gigantic mech. Activating his black haired hologram he sat down beside the blue eyed teen and rubbed her back in a comforting manner.

"It felt so real," Kory murmured as tears welled up in her eyes. The weapons specialist couldn't stand to see Kory like this. Turning so he was facing the young woman he placed his hands on either side of her head.

"W-What are you-?" Kory stammered, surprised at the sudden contact. The handsome hologram's bright blue eyes met her dark ones in an intense gaze. When their eyes locked she felt a strange tingling sensation in the back of her skull. The young woman tore her eyes from his and tried to push him away, which just caused him to move closer to her.

"I just want to see," he whispered softy as his forehead touched hers. A tear rolled down Kory's cheek as she nodded and stopped fighting. After all, her father had always told her that she needed to stop hiding her worries.

A/N: ok I lied this didn't have any Kory x 'Hide fluff in it (it was getting too long and I knew that I needed to post something or people would start to threaten me TT) I PROMISE the next chapter will! Please don't hate me for the delay! The dream is important! TT


	20. Comfort and a Promise

**Protector XX**

_Ironhide found himself in the middle of Kory's dream, in his hologram form just as a bystander. Looking around he found that they, all the Autobots, Barricade Kory and Al, were outside the base by a cluster of trees. _Seems peaceful enough, _Ironhide thought to himself. No sooner had he thought this there was a huge explosion that caused the ground to shake dangerously._

_Whipping his head around, he saw Kory and Al running for cover. Well it was more like Al dragging Kory to the small clump of trees for cover._

"_Let go of me!" Kory yelled as she fought against her friends hold._

"_Barricade told us to run!" The red head yelled back over the sound of gunfire. Before the blue eyed teen could yell back Barricade came crashing down beside them, closely followed by Starscream. The two human's eyes were wide with terror as the silver jet approached them._

"_Time to die," he growled as he whipped out his missile_ _launcher. Just as he was about to fire the black weapons specialist came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground._

_Roaring in anger the Decepticon transformed into his jet mode and shot off into the sky. Dropping to the ground with a resounding thud Kory was instantly at his side. The hologram Ironhide grinned as he watched his other self get to his feet, Kory right beside him. The grin on his face quickly faded when he saw Starscream returning. Al and Barricade were the only ones that seemed to notice this._

"_MOVE!" Barricade yelled as he tackled the black Autobot to the ground seconds before the missile collided with his back. The projectile missed its target and exploded into the trees instead. Kory didn't have time to get down before Al jumped on her, shielding her from the debris. The blue eyed teen looked up at her friend and was about to thank her when she noticed the blood dripping from her mouth._

Ironhide had to stop. He could feel everything that Kory was feeling and the emotions were too intense for him to handle. Withdrawing from Kory's mind he found that she was clinging to him like lifeline. _Ratchet makes it look so easy,_ he thought as he ran a hand through his hair. Then he remembered the look on said medic's face when he had suppressed her memories. _What did he see that made him react like that? _He wondered. Ironhide was pulled from his thoughts when Kory sat up and wiped the tears from her dark blue eyes.

Suddenly the young woman became very aware of what had just happened and that fact that she had just cried her eyes out on Ironhide, she _hated _crying and she seemed to be doing a lot of that lately.

"I should go," Kory said quickly as she moved to climb down the mechs leg to the floor. The weapons specialist sensed this and grabbed her by the shoulder. _Damn it! _Kory cursed mentally as she closed her eyes tightly, trying desperately to hold back her tears. The last thing she wanted was to start crying again but if Ironhide didn't stop this she was.

"Kory," Ironhide started. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." He waited for Kory to acknowledge his apology, but he got nothing, she kept her back turned to him. His patience started to grow thin and his temper started to get the best of him. Just as he was about to snap again he felt the young woman's entire body shaking under his hold.

Gently turning her so she was facing him he found that she had her eyes closed and was biting her lip to hold back the tears. Not needing her to say anything her pulled her close to him and held her in his arms.

"It was just a dream," he said calmly as he ran a hand through her light brown hair.

"I know," Kory replied shakily between sobs. "But what if-"

"I will _not _let him hurt you again," the black haired hologram said in a defensive tone. His tone surprised Kory and she looked up at him with her dark blue, tear filled eyes.

"I will protect you, _always_," he said softly as he looked down at her, his bright blue eyes meeting her dark blue ones. The look of complete sincerity in his eyes caused Kory to blush but she didn't pull away. Instead she leaned against him and let the warmth of his hologram seep into her.

After the two of them stood like that for a few seconds, Ironhide scanned the young woman and found that she was falling asleep. Grinning to himself he nudged her awake and told her that she was staying with him for the night. Kory simply nodded in reply. She was so tired that she barely comprehended what he was saying.

The hologram dissipated and Ironhide's warm metallic hand scooped her up and placed her on his chest. Kory opened her eyes sleepily and looked up at him. The battle hardened mech could read the question in her eyes.

"I promise," he said lowly as he stroked her back with a finger comfortingly. A soft smiled tugged at the corner of her lips and she fell into darkness. Kory didn't see it but a rare smile spread across Ironhide's face as he covered her with a hand to keep her warm.

The weapons specialist and the young woman were woken a few hours later, sometime around six in the morning, by a loud knocking on the door. Kory nearly jumped out of her skin at the loud noise and was instantly wide awake. Ironhide muttered something, no doubt a profanity, in Cybertronian.

"_What _Jazz?" The black mech growled.

"Optimus's holdn' an emergency meetin' and everyone's required ta attend," the second in command explained through the door. There was a pause.

"You too Kory," the smile on Jazz's face was obvious in his tone. Feeling the blood rush to her cheeks she suddenly found her hands very interesting. Sighing tiredly, Ironhide moved Kory from his chest, sat himself up, picked her up and made his way to the command center.

As the black Autobot made his way down the hall, Kory leaned against one of his warm fingers and felt her body start to slip back into darkness. Noticing this Ironhide grinned slightly. He knew that she hadn't gotten much sleep last night, so he let her be. _Why in the Pit would Optimus call am emergency meeting?_ He wondered. _It's either something really bad, or really good. _Remembering the three more Decepticons that had landed, he looked down at the young woman in his hand. _Please, for the love of Primus, let it be something good._

A/N: this chapter was originally gonna be MUCH longer but I decided that I should update before people started to threaten my health TT look forward to new arrivals! XD some of you already know who they are so don't spoil it for the others X3 Also, to those of you that have read Waves and Vipers and Solstices, I apologize for not updating TT Protector owned my soul first so it takes priority over the others TT I HAVE worked on them so their not collecting duck on my computer. I just haven't added enough to post a chapter.


	21. Meetings, Twins and A Message

**Protector XXI**

Kory woke just as the two of them entered the command room, closely followed by Barricade and Al. Looking up at the red head, Kory couldn't help but smile. Al was perched on the black and white mechs shoulder fast asleep. A flash of yellow caught her attention and she saw that it was Bumblebee and Sam. Said boy, however, was in the same state as Al. The teen sat on his guardians shoulder, his eyes were closed and was snoring slightly. Kory laughed at this and turned so she was facing Optimus. Once everyone was present and accounted for, the leader of the Autobots began.

"Exactly ten minutes ago I received landing coordinates from two fellow Autobots," Optimus stated. The excitement in the room escalated to an almost unbearable level, even for Kory. She had only known the Autobots for a few days and yet she was already eager to meet more of them.

"Well who are they?" Jazz asked, his voice easily conveying his excitement. A small grin spread across Optimus's face as he turned to Ratchet.

"You're favorite patients," he said to the medic. Kory could have sworn that she saw one of the yellow mechs optics twitch. The medic excused himself and left the room. Just as Kory was about to ask where he went, an unearthly yell erupted from down the hall towards the med bay. The noise was so loud that Kory had to cover her ears to keep from going deaf. The noise jolted both Sam and Al awake, the latter of the two almost falling off Barricade's shoulder. The noise ceased and there was a pause.

"He handled that well," Jazz commented as he folded his arms across his chest. Optimus gave his second in command a look, but the silver mech simply shrugged it off. Moments later Ratchet walked back in with a much calmer look on his face.

"When are they landing?" He asked in a flat tone. A faint smirk tugged at the corner of a certain Pontiac's mouth.

"According to their present velocity, the two of them should be landing in the field not far from here in one hour," Optimus said. "Be ready to leave in thirty minutes." With that said, everyone made their way to the mess hall for some energon before disembarking.

Ironhide sat Kory down on the table with Sam and let the two of them be. The dark haired boy saw her and smiled happily.

"How are you feeling?" He asked as he hugged her gently. Sam didn't see it but Barricade had sat Al down on the table as well and the younger teen was rocketing towards Sam with surprising speed. Before Kory could respond, both she and Sam were knocked over by the force of Al's impact.

Ratchet saw this and almost had a fit. The burns on Kory's back weren't even four days old and at this rate her shoulder was _never _going to heal properly. Unfortunately, Jazz came running into the room and told everyone that it was time to go. The medic sighed and shifted into his alt mode and sped off alongside Jazz and Optimus.

Ironhide then strode over to the table and picked up the three humans and sat them on the floor. Barricade transformed and sped up to Al, who climbed in and the cop car sped off. Bumblebee had told Sam of Barricade's new loyalties, but he was still wary of the mech. The yellow Camero pulled up in front of his charge and opened the door for him to get in, and then they were off. Kory yawned and rubbed her eyes tiredly. As she did this Ironhide shifted into his secondary form and opened the door for her.

A good bit of the drive was completely silent, save for the constant purr of the weapon specialist's powerful engine.

"So who are the new arrivals?" Kory asked breaking the silence. "Ratchet obviously doesn't like them." That last statement caused the black Topkick's cab to vibrate with soft laughter.

"Their names are Sunstreaker and Sideswipe," Ironhide explained. "They're twins and their soul purpose is to make our lives miserable."

"Aw come on 'Hide," Jazz said over the radio. "They jus' like to have some fun every once 'n a while." Ratchet snorted at this.

"_You _haven't been on the receiving end on one of their slagging pranks," the medic retorted angrily.

"'Ey I can't help it you're an easier target," the Solstice laughed. Kory smiled as the three Autobots continued to talk about the twins and the childish pranks that they seemed to pull every other day.

Ironhide was about to defend his actions taken against he twins for painting his canons neon green when two meteors crashed into the car dealership in front of them. Kory gave a surprised yelp and clutched the leather seat under her.

"I thought you said they were landing in the field," Barricade growled to the Solstice. Jazz simply transformed into this natural form and shrugged.

"Guess their course was changed from the magnetic field," the second in command replied as Optimus shifted into his bipedal form beside him, closely followed by Ratchet. Bumblebee, Barricade and Ironhide opened their doors to let out their passengers and transformed as well.

Looking around Kory saw a car pull up and a familiar Army Ranger step out, dress uniform and everything. The blue eyed teen smiled at this and ran up tot greet him.

"What're you doing here?" She asked after giving him a one armed hug.

"I guess you could say that I'm a liaison of sorts for the Autobots," Will replied as he tugged at the stiff collar around his neck. The Army Capitan excused himself and strode up to the red and blue mech that was Optimus.

Will and Optimus had just exchanged a few words of information when two Lamborghini Diablo's, one red the other yellow, came rocketing out of the smoke. The two Italian super cars drifted in unison so they were facing their leader, but not without spraying dirt and rocks in the direction of Ratchet and the others.

"Hey! Watch it you slag heads!" The yellow medic yelled angrily. This simply caused the two Lamborghini's to laugh and transform into their bipedal mode.

"Awww I think he missed us Sides," the yellow mech said as a large smiled spread across his face.

"I highly doubt that Sunny," the red one laughed as he cast a wary glance at the steaming medic. Optimus smiled at this then cleared this throat to get their attention. The two new Autobots straightened themselves and saluted.

"Sunstreaker and Sideswipe, reporting for duty!" They exclaimed in union. Kory glanced at Bumblebee and Barricade, each who had their charges beside them, and smiled. Barricade, who was still in his car mode, had a very wide-eyed Al on his hood, whereas Sam was simply stood slack-jawed and speechless next to his guardian. The blue eyed laughed at her friend's reactions, startling the yellow mech known as Sunstreaker. The golden mech whipped out his plasma canon and had it aimed no more then a few inches from her face.

Several things happened at once. Al freaked out and jumped from Barricade's hood and started to run to Kory's side, how exactly she was going to protect her from a twenty something foot tall robot had yet to cross her mind. Barricade, upon feeling the red haired teen remove herself from his hood he transformed. When the black and white mech saw what exactly was happening his canon unsheathed itself, fully prepared to defend the first human that had somehow managed to find a place in his spark.

In that same instant Ironhide's internal alarms sounded telling him that the young female was in danger. The hulking mech, who had been talking to Ratchet, whirled around and saw that the yellow Lamborghini had his weapon pointed at the blue eyed teen. Without thinking he lunged at the golden twin, not noticing Al on the ground.

Said teen would have been crushed beneath the weapon specialist's foot had she not tripped over her own feet half way across the clearing, thus saving her life. Barricade saw Al on the ground and his own internal alarms sounded. Instinctively he scooped her from the ground and held her close to his spark in a protective manner.

Ironhide was all up in Sunstreaker's face, yelling at him in their native tongue and was brandishing his canons all the while. The yellow mech had shrunk back from the fuming black Autobot and seemed to be looking to Jazz for some sort of help. He got none.

Kory, on the other hand, was quite shaken and sat herself down to try and steady her nerves. Just as her heartbeat had calmed down, two red feet were in front of her. Looking up she saw that it was the other twin, Sideswipe. The red Lamborghini smiled down at her and let her sit in his hand, a much safer place then the ground.

"Hey Sideswipe?" Kory asked looking up at her carrier. A pair of bright blue optics looked down at her.

"Can you take me to Ratchet? I need to ask him something," the young woman asked softly. Sideswiped nodded in response and made his way across the clearing to the medic. When Ratchet saw the Red Terror walking towards him he narrowed his optics at him but stopped when he saw Kory in his hand. He immediately started to run al sorts of scans on her, fearing that Sunstreaker had hurt her. Seeing this Kory let out a soft laugh.

"I'm fine Ratchet," she said waving her left hand in front of her. "I just was wondering if I could go home today."

The yellow Search and Rescue Hummer looked Kory over. Her ribs were still tender, she needed to keep she arm in the sling for a few more days and the burns still needed to be cleaned and cared for everyday. However, he knew that he couldn't keep her in the med bay forever.

Sighing he gave Kory permission to go home, but only on the condition that she came by the base everyday for him to bandage her burns. The blue eyes teen readily agreed to these terms, eager to get home and take a nice hot shower.

Kory looked over to Ironhide, who was now talking to Optimus and Lennox and had a serious expression on his face. Sighing she wondered how she was gonna get home. Sideswipe, as if sensing her predicament, sat her on the ground and shifted into his secondary form.

The dark blue eyed teen couldn't help but gawk at his car form. The bright red paint was utterly stunning in early morning sunlight and the chassis had curves in all the right places. Approaching the Italian hotrod she, ran her hand over the sleek hood. The driver side door tilted upward allowing her entry.

Sitting in the plush leather seat she couldn't help but smile. The interior was all black and was just as slick looking as the outside. It was _so _different then Ironhide. While the black Autobot's car from was impressive, this was just an entirely different category. The weapon's specialist's form was large, bulky and tough, hence the name _Ironhide._ Sideswipe, however, his form was all about speed and agility, and Kory liked things that went fast.

The red Diablo buckled her in and spun tired as he shot out of the clearing at sixty miles an hour. Kory gripped the leather under her, slightly out of fear but mostly out of excitement. However, the red Autobot rounded a corner a bit too fast for her liking and started to panic as certain memories started to resurface. Closing her eyes she tried to think of anything but that car that had speeded down the street in their neighborhood.

Sideswipe noticed the sudden spike in her adrenaline and erratic breathing. Slowing down he pulled off the side of the road.

"Hey? Kory you ok?" He asked worriedly. Panting and shaking she rested her head on the steering wheel and took several deep breaths.

"I'm sorry Sideswipe," she said once she regained her composure. "I guess I'm still not ready for fast driving yet." That last comment was mostly to herself, but the Diablo heard it.

"Do you want me to call one of the others?" He offered.

"No, no Sides you're fine," she said reassuringly. "I just didn't think that speeding would bother me after four months." As she said this the red Lamborghini pulled back on to the road, this time going exactly the speed limit.

It was almost eight in the morning when Sideswipe got her home. He offered to stay with her but she told him that she would be fine and that he should go back to the base and catch up with the others. Reluctantly he left her but not before giving a thorough sweep of the area.

Kory sighed heavily and went inside through the garage. Everything was where she left it. Looking in the living room she smiled softly as she remembered when Ratchet had come to check on her, closely followed by Jazz and then Ironhide. Rubbing her eyes tiredly as she made her way to the stairs to go to her room, she saw the answering machine blinking. _Huh, a message, _Kory thought as he pressed the play button. The young woman's dark blue eyes widened in horror when she heard the voice on the recording. It was her mother.

A/N: oh the horror of the parental unit! Heh yah Kory's mom's coming home for a few days and lets just say that Kory's gonna have one hell of a time explaining who the handsome black haired man is with her XD yah that's not gonna go over well TT things to look forward to!: Ratchet tells Hide what he saw in her memories, Kory's mom comes home, introduction of 'Hide to her mom.


	22. Finding Out and Complicated

**Protector XXII**

Needless to say this caused Kory to go into an instant state of panic. Her mind reeled with a list of things that had to be done within the next twenty four hours. This consisted of cleaning and coming up with a believable story as to why her arm was in a sling. Running her hands through her short brown hair, Kory sighed and decided that her first priority was a shower.

As she made her way up the stairs to the bathroom she stripped herself of her old clothes and started the shower. Taking the brace off of her still tender ribs she winced when she saw them. Most of her left side was covered in purple, green and red splotches, some of which were fading. Sighing she then, with the help of a backscratcher, pealed the bandages off her back. She didn't look at them, for fear of freaking out more then she already was.

Elsewhere, the Autobots and the new arrivals had just gotten back to the base. Jazz was getting Sunstreaker and Sideswipe settled, whereas Ironhide was looking for a certain yellow medic. He had a few questions he wanted answered. As expected, he found Ratchet in the med bay. With the twins on the base, there were bound to be more repairs then usual, and the medic was not happy about that. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy his job. The twins just annoyed the slag out of him.

The door to the bay hissed open and he expected to see the Terrible Duo standing there, already needing repairs. He was mildly relieved to see that it was Ironhide. Mildly because the he knew that the weapon specialist didn't come to him unless he absolutely had to.

"Ratchet," the black mech said. "What did you see in Kory's memories?" Ratchet knew that he was going to have to tell him eventually but that didn't mean that he wanted to. The medic sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed.

"Take a seat," the medic said gesturing to one of the recharge beds off to the side. Ratchet took a few minutes to put all of his important equipment away. The medic had known the black mech long enough to know how he was going to react.

When finished, he turned to the Ironhide and pulled up the file that he had saved Kory's memories in and sent a copy to the Autobot in front of him. Just as Ironhide was about to open the file Ratchet spoke.

"Ironhide," the medic said softly. "Please, do _not _bring these up around her." With that said he left the bay, knowing very well that things were not going to be pretty, and waited.

Not even five seconds later there came an unearthly roar from the other side of the sliding door. This was accompanied by the sound of canons charging and several good sounding explosions. The medic sighed and let Ironhide vent.

A good five minutes later he was still at it. Ratchet decided that was enough. He was starting to fear for the ancient mechs health. Opening the door to his med bay he found the hulking black form of Ironhide in the center of the room. His canons were smoking from his tirade and his optics were dimming then brightening as he forced himself to stay on-line.

"'m gonna kill tha' fragger," the back mech slurred tiredly as his black frame swayed slightly.

"Come on," Ratchet said softly as he draped one of Ironhide's arms over his smaller shoulders. Just like that, Ratchet helped the older mech back to his quarters for him to recharge.

The day, as chaotic as it was, came and went with almost no hitches on Kory's end. From about eight in the morning to almost six in the evening the young woman cleaned. This consisted of, but was not limited to, dusting, vacuuming, dishes, laundry, organizing of book shelves and cleaning of multiple rooms in the house.

The blue eyed teen put the last of the cleaning supplies, which now needed to be restocked, away she sighed heavily. Having worked up quite a sweat from scrubbing and running up and down the stairs of their two story house, Kory decided that another shower was in order.

An hour later she emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a plush dark blue bath towel and headed to her room. Yawning she shook her head sending droplets of water spraying in all directions. As she changed into a pair of black sleep pants with small Batman logos on them and a yellow sleep sleeveless, her stomach growled loudly.

"Alright, alright I'll feed you," she muttered to her stomach as she made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. Making herself a bowl of macaroni and cheese, she sat down on the couch in the living room and admired her work.

"No bad, if I do say so myself," Kory said as a soft grin crept across her face. She had only taken one bite of her macaroni and cheese when there was the sound of a car pulling up on her driveway. Getting to her feet she looked out the window and saw an all too familiar black Topkick in the driveway. Not even bothering to grab a jacket, she ran to the truck with a huge smile on her face.

The black Autobot grinned to himself when he saw the large grin on Kory's face as she ran to him. Opening the driver's side door he let her in and turned on the heat so she wasn't cold.

"What're you doing here?" She asked as she warmed herself in his cab.

"Ratchet wanted me to check on you," the weapons specialist lied. Sure the medic was concerned about Kory but he knew that he couldn't keep an optic on her all the time. The _real _reason Ironhide was there was because he felt an immense need to protect her, more so after seeing what Starscream had done to her, but like hell he was going to tell her that.

"My mom's coming home tomorrow," Kory said flatly.

"You don't sound too please about this," the Topkick said upon hearing the tone of her voice.

"Our relationship is…_complicated _at best," she sighed as she ran a hand through her chin length brown hair. After a few seconds of silence Kory got the feeling that Ironhide didn't understand, and he didn't.

"It's a long story," she explained as she rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"I have time," he said as his hologram flickered to life beside her. His bright blue eyes locked with her dark ones and the two f them sat like that for a few seconds.

"Alright," Kory sighed as she opened the door and headed inside, closely followed by the weapons specialist.

A/N: blah I don't like this chapter XP it's short and pretty boring TT yah I know her mom didn't show in this chapter but I decided to add more stuff that'll explain how her and her mom act around each other and I decided to add a little twist of my own that I hadn't planned on X3


	23. Explanations and Meeting Mom

**Protector XXIII**

The brown haired teen sighed and sat down on the couch. The handsome older man sat down beside her and patiently waited for her to begin.

"For as long as I can remember, Dad had always been the one to take care of me," Kory started as she took a bit of her lukewarm pasta.

"Had?" Ironhide said, catching the past tense. The blue eyed teen smiled sadly and looked at him with tear filled eyes.

"Four months and 17 days ago my dad hit by a car when he was fixing our mailbox. One week later he died with me holding his hand," Kory said through strangled sobs. Ironhide reached out to comfort her but she spoke before he could touch her.

"I was alone," she said almost inaudibly. "Mom was away on a business trip, it had been just he two of us. Will tried his hardest to come and see me, but the Army needed him in Qatar. Mom came home about a week later, claming that it was the soonest she could get a flight."

Kory took another bite of her pasta and wiped the tears from her cheeks. It was wrenching the weapon specialist's spark in two to hear this. Kory always acted so happy and care-free that he never imagined that her life was filled with such pain.

"Mom acted as if nothing had happened," she said angrily. "At first I thought it was for my sake, but I _never _saw her mourn, _ever_. Anyways, when she realized that I didn't have access to money for food or anything, she said that she would wire three hundred dollars a month for food and clothing to my account. The last thing she did before she left was hire someone to take care of the bills and such. She then left for China and I haven't seen her since. _That _is why I'm not too thrilled about her coming home."

Looking up at the hologram in front of her, she found that Ironhide had a very angry look on his face. Feeling the young woman's gaze on him, he looked up at her and pulled her into his warm arms.

"She's not worthy to call herself your mother," he growled. A small smile tugged at the corner of Kory's mouth and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I don't like her, but I love her," she said as she sat up. Ironhide opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the young woman in front of him yawning widely.

"Go to sleep Kory," he said gently as he ran a large hand through her soft hair. She nodded in response and took her half empty bowl of macaroni and cheese into the kitchen and washed it.

Appearing in the doorframe after a few minutes, she stretched as she yawned again. This caused the black haired hologram to grin slightly as he got to his feet. Kory gasped in surprise when she felt a strong pair of arms around her waist and picking her up. Turning several shades of red she realized that Ironhide was carrying her up to her room.

"Third door on the right," she said as she pointed him in the right direction.

"I know," he said knowingly. Kory raised an eyebrow at his simple response. Seeing the cute, well he thought it was, look on her face he laughed slightly.

"Who do you think carried you to your room when you were sick?" He asked with a grin. The young woman in his arms blushed deeply and tore her gaze away from his.

Nudging the door open with is shoulder he laid Kory down on her twin sized bed and covered her with a warm blanket. A soft grin tugged at the corner of his lips as he watched the young woman roll onto her side and snuggle into her bed.

"Thanks 'Hide," she said peacefully as she closed her eyes tiredly. The weapons specialist debated his next actions for a few seconds. He decided on the bolder of the two. Resting a hand behind her head and one in front of it, he leaned over and kissed her forehead lovingly.

"'Night Kory," he whispered, as his hologram dissipated.

Kory woke early the next morning to the sound of thunder. Whimpering, she pulled the covers over her head and tried to will the horrid noise away. After five minutes of failure she flung the covers off of her and got dressed.

Sliding on a pair of dark blue jeans and a blood red sleeveless she stumbled into the bathroom. After washing the sleep from her eyes she made her way downstairs and made herself half of a bagel, being as she wasn't much of a breakfast person.

It was pouring outside and the thunder and lighting weren't helping Kory's anxious attitude in the least. Glancing at the time on the VCR she found that it was almost nine in the morning. Rubbing her eyes tiredly she pulled out her sketchbook and started to random shapes and things around her.

After a good ten minutes of this she then got up and made herself a mug of Green Tea, her comfort drink. Upon sitting back down she picked up her drawing pad and started to draw again. She didn't realize just what she was drawing until she started to shade it. Her eyes widened slightly when she found that it was a profile shot of Ironhide in his hologram form. Cheeks burning with embarrassment, she quickly turned the page and started to draw something else.

It was still raining about an hour later when the front door swung open and a tall woman with long brown hair, much like Kory's, strode in. A small, fake, smile spread across the young woman's face and pushed herself to her feet to help her mother bring in her many bags of luggage.

The older woman, who was in her late forties, closed her umbrella and looked around the room, everything was as she had left it. She also noticed that it was very clean.

"The living room looks nice," she said as she slid off her heavy black coat, revealing her slender frame that was dressed in a black and grey business outfit. Looking down at her daughter, who was almost as tall as she was, she told her to put her luggage in the laundry room. Kory, grudgingly, obeyed. _She's treating me just like she did Dad when she came home, _she thought as she dragged the heavy bags into the laundry room.

At the Autobot base Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were in the med bay being repaired by the infamous Ratchet. The CMO was trying his hardest to not beat the slag out of the twins for being…well themselves. The rain was driving them mad and they really wanted to go out and try out their secondary forms.

Sideswipe suggested that they go out in the rain, but Sunstreaker made such a big deal about the mud and how it would 'totally ruin his finish'. Rough housing ensued and consisted of several pieces of broken pieces of furniture and a pissed off Ironhide.

A particularly loud crack of thunder sounded throughout the base. Jazz sighed as he sipped on his energon cube, thinking about Kory. Ironhide looked up from the folder he had been reading and looked at the second on command.

"What was that for?" He asked, fixing his optics on the smaller silver mech.

"I was jus' thinking 'bout Kory," he replied. The black mech raised and optic ridge at this.

"She doesn't like thunder," Jazz explained.

Ironhide nodded in understanding as he checked the time. It was going on one in the afternoon. _Kory's mom should be home now, _he thought as he got to his feet. He knew that Kory loved her mother, but he still wanted to have a few choice words with her.

"I'm heading out for awhile. Tell Optimus that I'll be back in a few hours," the weapons specialist said as he shifted into his secondary form and sped off. Jazz simply grinned to himself. He knew very well where he was going.

Ironhide's sensors instantly picked up another presence in the house. It wasn't Sam or Al, both of which were at the base, which led him to assume that it was Kory's mother. Pulling into the driveway he activated his hologram, stepped out into the rain and knocked on the door.

Ironhide wasn't surprised that was the one to answer the door, but she seemed quite surprised that he was there. Glancing over her shoulder to the older woman that was sitting on the couch, she spoke to him in a quite and angry voice.

"What the _hell _are you doing here?!" She questioned. The black haired hologram was just about to respond when her mother spoke.

"Kory who is it?" She asked turning so she was facing the door. The blue eyed teen smacked her head against the doorframe before letting the weapons specialist in and out of the cold rain.

Then instant he stepped inside the room he felt the older woman's eyes on him in the most scrutinizing manner, almost as bad as the yellow medic back at the base.

"This is my…" Kory trailed off at the end. _What are Ironhide and I? Friends? Lovers?_

"I'm Kory's boyfriend, Hyde," he replied simply. This time he took on a more human name, even though it sounded exactly like his nickname. Locking his ice blue eyes with the older woman's deep brown ones he gave her a hard look. His sensors picked up Kory's pulse, it was through the roof.

"What?" She said flatly, her eyes narrowing slightly. Kory grabbed 'Hyde's' hand and rested her forehead between his shoulder blades.

"'Hide," the young woman said softly. "Please don't." The tone in her voice was pleading, but Ironhide ignored it.

"I'm Kory's boyfriend," he said trying his absolute best to contain his temper. He sis _not _like the situation and the stress that it was causing the young woman behind him. Kory's mother looked 'Hyde' over with a look that could rival Ratchet's. She then gave her daughter a look of pure disgust.

"You disgust me," she ground out. That was _it_.

"Don't you _ever _talk to her like that!" Ironhide yelled furiously. This caught both Kory and her mother by surprise.

"Don't you _dare _tell me how to talk to my daughter!" The older woman shrieked at the black haired man in front of her. "She's just like her father." Kory's head snapped up when she said that.

"Don't you _dare _talk about him!" Kory yelled as tears leaked from her dark blue eyes. "You have no right to! You never mourned his death! You never even loved him!"

"How _dare _you talk to me like that!" Her mother shouted back. "I demand that you break up with this man or I'll disown you."

"I don't care!" She shouted as more tears fell from her eyes. "I love him and there's nothing you can do to change that!" That said, she turned on her heel and flung open the door.

"Where do you think you're going?!" Her mom yelled hysterically. Kory turned and looked at her mother with a frigid glare.

"To my _real _family."

A/N: Woo! I had SO much fin writing this chapter XD well the shit hit the fan and it was wonderful don't you think? X3 well I think it was XD oh I torture my chars so much when I really shouldn't X3 well I hope you all enjoyed. I put some major fluff in the beginning so I hope that made people happy you know who you are XD and the next chapter's gonna be my favorite of all! Not telling you what's gonna happen next! It's a surprise! (runs off)


	24. Real Family, A Picnic and Happier Times

**Protector XXIV**

It was still raining outside when Kory stormed out the front door of her house. The cold rain pouring from the dark grey sky hid the tears on the young woman's face as she climbed into the cab of the black GMC Topkick. Wiping the mix of tears and rain from her face she pulled her knees to her chest and rested her forehead on them.

"Kory," Ironhide said softly through the surrounding speakers.

"'Hide," Kory said in a shaky voice. "Just take me somewhere…anywhere." The response she got from the black mech was him turning on the heat and backing out of the driveway.

Ironhide focused more of his sensors on his precious cargo and found that the dark blue eyed teen was on the verge of falling asleep. Flicking the radio on he found a soft rock station and let it lull her to sleep.

It took him a good ten minutes to get back to the base, being as traffic was backed up because of the rain. Normally the impatient mech would've turned around but the young woman asleep in the passenger seat had an oddly calming effect on him.

As he pulled into the base he found Jazz standing there scanning a data pad.

"You're back early," the second in command said in a somewhat surprised tone as he subspaced the item. Just as Ironhide was about to say something Kory stepped out of the passenger side door. Jazz took one look at her and instantly projected his holo-form over to her.

"Kory wha's wrong? Wha' happened?" The dark skinned holo-form asked as he lifted her face with both of his hands. His 'little sister' had such a sad look on her face and was shivering slightly, her clothes were still wet from the rain.

"Come on," he said as he walked her over to his silver feet. "Le's get you warmed up." The solid hologram disappeared and let her climb into his hand. Ironhide shifted back into his natural form and was following the two of them to the med bay. He had absolutely no intention of leaving Kory's side.

Ratchet was sitting at the computer in the med bay typing at a rapid speed when the door hissed open.

"If you're not dying get out," he said grumpily.

"Jeez Doc I jus' need a blanket fo' Kory," the silver Pontiac replied defensively. Hearing the young woman's name he turned around and saw her sitting in the second in command's hand shivering slightly. Quickly getting to his feet he reached into one of his many compartments and produced a warm blanket for the shivering teen. The hulking black form of Ironhide strode in and Ratchet cast a questioning glance at him.

"_**What happened?" **_The CMO asked as he draped the blanket around the blue eyed teen's shoulders. Ironhide let a low growl rumble deep in his chest as he recalled the event.

"_**I'll tell you later,"**_ the black weapons specialist said flatly. Kory sniffled as she wiped some stray tears from her cheeks. Ironhide looked at her and found that she was looking up at him with such a lost expression.

Just as Kory was about to say something Barricade strode in, Al on his shoulder. The red head was smiling happily, completely content with her position on the former Decepticon's shoulder. However, her expression changed the moment her hazel eyes landed on the all too familiar form of Kory in Jazz's hand.

"Kory!" The younger teen exclaimed as Barricade moved her from his shoulder to his clawed hand.

"What happened?!" Al asked frantically as Barricade sat her in Jazz's had with her friend. Kory rested her head on her friends shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Mom wasn't too thrilled 'bout 'Hide," Kory mumbled flatly. "I don't have a family anymore." Al's eyes widened then closed when she realized what her blue eyed friend meant.

"Lets go do something fun!" The younger of the two exclaimed happily after a moment of silence. Kory smiled slightly when her friend said this. She knew very well that Al wanted to make her happy and spontaneous events were what she did best.

"What'd you have in mind?" Kory asked a smile still on her face.

"A picnic!" She said happily. Al said as she reached out to Barricade, the former Decepticon picked up the two women from Jazz's hand.

"To the mess hall!" Al said with enthusiasm as she pointed in the direction of said room.

About thirty minutes later the two teens were ready for their picnic. Barricade offered to drive the two of them. However, Ironhide did not like the idea of Kory riding with the former Decepticon, despite the fact that Al was going to be there. Because of this the black mech announced that he was going as well. Then, somehow, Sunstreaker and Sideswipe found out about Kory, Al, Barricade and Ironhide leaving the base. Thus the complaining began. Optimus smirked and decide to make it a group event.

So there was a caravan of a Semi, Pontiac Solstice, a GMC Topkick, one red and one yellow Lamborghini, a Cop Car, and a Search and Rescue Hummer making their way down the dirt road.

In the black and white cop car, Barricade was driving and Al was in the driver's seat, to give the _illusion _that she was driving…when in actuality she didn't even have a license. The hazel eyed teen rummaged around in her purse and pulled out a CD. The mech didn't mind the CDs that Al often brought when she was with him…but this one made him want to deactivate himself.

"_My grades are down from 'A's to 'D's  
I'm way behind in history  
I lost myself in fantasies  
Of you and me together _

_I don't know why-y-y I but dreaming's all I do  
I won't get by-y-y on mere imagination _

_Upside down _

_Bouncing off the cei-"_

Barricade couldn't take it any more, he spit the CD out. Al quirked an eyebrow at this and pushed the disk back in. Only to have the back and white mech spit it back out. The hazel eyed teen frowned and shoved it back in, this time covering the slot with her hand. The interior of the Saleen Mustang vibrated with a low growl.

"Oh stop being a big sparkling," Al said as she leaned back in the driver's seat. Barricade growled once more and spat the CD out. The young woman then got an idea. Running a hand over the leather seat she was sitting on, she traced the seams in the smooth material.

"If you play this for me…I'll give you a wash later," Al said as a smile spread across her face. There was a pause between the two of them.

"Wax?" The former Decepticon asked his interest peaked. Al nodded in response to the mechs question.

"Deal," the black and white mech responded as he resumed playing the CD.

Ten minutes later the seven mechs arrived at their destination. The location of the picnic was a large grassy field beside a small grove of trees. The driver's side door of the black Topkick popped open and Kory stepped out. Much to her relief it had stopped raining and the sun was peaking out form behind the stormy clouds. _How fitting, _Kory mused. The symbolism of the dark clouds and the sun fit her mood

"Kory, come on!" Al yelled as she pulled the basket of goodies out of Barricade's back seat. The blue eyed teen smiled and made her way over to where she was.

Meanwhile the others shifted into their normal forms and stretched out their joints. Jazz had just started to scan the area when Sideswipe smacked his twin on the arm.

"TAG! You're it!" He yelled as he sprinted across the field.

"WHY YOU- GET BACK HERE YOU GLITCH!" The yellow warrior yelled as he ran after his brother. Ratchet shook his head in disapproval as a small smile crept across Optimus's face as he watched the wins wrestle with each other.

It had been so long since they had been able to relax. _Even with Megatron gone, the war is still far from over, _Optimus was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of human laughter. Looking to his left his bright blue optics focused on Kory and Al. Not only them but both Ironhide and Barricade had activated their holo-forms. The two young women were in the midst of a 'fight', and, from the looks of things, Kory was winning.

A few hours passed and all the mechs were enjoying the feeling of the warm sunlight on their armor. Al was sitting on Barricade's left thigh and leaning back against him taking a nap, the black and white mech looked as if he was going to go into recharge at any given second. Jazz was sitting on a hill close by and was talking to Sunstreaker about the newest upgrades that Ratchet had created. The Search and Rescue hummer was currently being harassed by Sideswipe, no doubt about said upgrades. The leader of the Autobots was sitting beside a rather large tree and was taking very detail of the vast green field. The tree beside Optimus was being leaned on by Ironhide who was in a light recharge, along with Kory who was curled up on his shoulder.

Jazz was the first to sense it. The second in command stopped mid sentence when it appeared on his scanner. Optimus quickly got to his feet and his battle mask covered his face. Barricade and Ironhide both snapped out of recharge.

"Who is it?" Ratchet asked as he worked to decipher the signal.

"It's Starscream, and he's not alone," the black and white mech growled as he got too his feet. "Skywarp and Thundercracker are with him." Ironhide got to his feet and was about to say something when Jazz's voice was heard.

"INCOMING!" The silver mech yelled as he ducked for cover. Both Ironhide and Barricade grabbed their respective girls and shielded them from the blast of two missiles.

Then there was the sound of folding metal and three loud landings. Before any of the seekers could say anything, Sunstreaker sprung into action along with his brother. Jazz's shield materialized as his visor slid into place and he charged right in. A growl rumbled deep in the black weapon specialist throat as his canons unsheathed themselves and his battle mask slid into place. Barricade's canon unfolded and glowed ominously. A round of low caliber shots came dangerously close to the two young women.

"RUN!" Barricade yelled at the two of them as Ironhide fought off Skywarp. Not needing to be told twice, Al grabbed Kory's hand and forcibly dragged her towards the small grove of trees.

"Let go of me!" Kory yelled as she fought against her friends hold.

"Barricade told us to run!" The red head yelled back over the sound of gunfire. Before the blue eyed teen could yell back Barricade came crashing down beside them, closely followed by Starscream. The two human's eyes were wide with terror as the F-22 mech approached them.

"Time to die," he growled as he whipped out his missile launcher. Just as he was about to fire the hulking black form of Ironhide came out of nowhere and tackled him to the ground. Roaring in anger the Decepticon transformed into his jet mode and shot off into the sky.

"Decepticons, retreat!" Starscream yelled. Skywarp and Thundercracker followed suite and took to the sky.

The weapons specialist dropped to the ground with a resounding thud and Kory was instantly at his side. Ironhide pushed himself to his feet he looked around and was relieved to see that everyone was still functioning. Sunstreaker and Sideswipe had taken a good beating, but then again that wasn't uncommon for them.

Barricade sighed as he canon retracted back into his arm. Looking down at Al he smiled and was just about to say something when his scanner picked up on Starscream, and he was aiming for Ironhide.

"MOVE!" Barricade yelled as he tackled the black Autobot to the ground seconds before the missile collided with his back. The projectile missed its target and exploded into the trees, splintering them into hundreds of pieces. Kory didn't have time to get down before Al jumped on her, her back shielding the blue eyed teen from the flying debris.

Blinking several times, Kory realized what had just happened and that Al was on top of her. Smiling she looked up at Al and was just about to thank her when she saw the blood dripping from the red head's mouth. Blue eyes wide with horror she sat up and looked her friend over.

Al had a splinter of wood at least a foot long and at least two inches in diameter stabbing her through the chest. The red head gave her friend a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Kory, I'm fine," he said as she rested a shaky hand on the brown haired teens shoulder.

"**RATCHET!!!**" Kory screamed as Al flopped forward onto her shoulder.

Needless to say this got all the mechs attention. The instant Ratchet looked up his scanner picked up on Al vitals and he was there in a flash. Running all sorts of scans on the younger teens weakening body he quickly transformed into his secondary form.

"_Get her in the back and lay her on her side!" _Ratchet ordered in Cybertronian. Jazz gently picked Al up and laid the red head in the back on a stretcher. Kory climbed in before the medic could close the doors or protest. Spinning his tires on the dirt road, the yellow Search and Rescue Hummer broke every speed limit in a desperate attempt to get the young woman back to the base.

"Its ok Al, you're gonna be ok," Kory said as she held her friend's hand in hers, as if that would somehow keep her alive. As Ratchet speeded down the dirt road he kept a good percent of his sensors on the young red head in the back.

About ten minutes from the base her heart rate and blood pressure dropped dramatically. _Frag, frag frag frag! _Ratchet yelled in his mind as he slowed to a halt. There was no way that he could get Al to the base in ten minutes, even if he drove twice as fast.

"Why are you stopping?!" Kory yelled hysterically as she continued to clutch her friend's hand.

"Kory…she's not going to make it," he said sadly.

"SHUT UP!" The blue eyed teen yelled as she beat the inside of the Hummer with her fists. "SHE'S NOT GOING TO DIE! SHE'S NOT!!"

"Kory," Al said in a soft voice. The nineteen year old was at her friend's side in a heartbeat. A pair of hazel eyes met dark blue tear stained ones.

"Next time…you're bringing…the sandwiches," she whispered as her hand went limp and her eyes closed.

"Al! _AL_!! _**AAAAAAL**_" Kory screamed at the top of her lungs as tears streamed down her face.

A/N: Yes I live! Shocking yes I know. Well winter break was hell, got all 4 of my Wisdom Teeth pulled (2 days after Christmas how's that for a gift XP) then Spring Semester started and chaos ensued…yes that's my crappy excuse so bite me! XP


	25. Tears and a Familiar Smile

Protector XXV

**Protector XXV**

Ratchet's spark went out to Kory as she clung to Al's limp figure, her body trembling with silent sobs. Optimus pulled up beside the Search and Rescue Hummer and opened a private line between them.

"_Ratchet?" _The red and blue Semi asked.

"_Al's dead," _the CMO said in a flat tone as he started to move again.

The entire ride back to the base was in complete silence. Optimus relayed the information to everyone in the convoy, except for Barricade. The red and blue mech, along with everyone else on the base, knew that the cop car had _very _strong feelings for the young red head. Because of this Optimus feared that the former Decepticon would become violent and decided that it was best for him to break the news to him himself.

By the time the seven of them arrived back at the base Kory had passed out from a combination of exhaustion and emotional overload. Ratchet, not bothering to transform, drove into the med bay and locked the door behind him.

The instant Barricade pulled into the base he shifted into his bipedal form and started towards the bay doors. He was stopped by the large hand of Optimus Prime resting in his shoulder. The black and white mech whipped his head around and was about to yell at him for stopping him, but the look in the Prime's dimmed optics made the energon in his lines run cold.

"No," he whispered as a look of panic spread across his metallic features.

"Barricade-" Optimus said as he tried to pull the black and white mech way from the med bay doors.

"NO!" Barricade yelled as he wrenched away from the red and blue mech's hold. "AL! _AL!! __**AAAAAAL**_**!!**" He screamed as he banged his fists against the heavily armored doors.

"Barricade stop!" Optimus yelled as he pulled him away from the bay. The former Decepticon fought against he much larger mech's hold, but eventually gave up and let out a howl of grief as he clung to Prime's chassis.

Prime supported a good amount of the black and white mech's weight as he broke into grating sobs. No Autobot had ever seen such a blatant display of emotions from a Decepticon, former or otherwise.

In the med bay, Ratchet rolled to a stop and activated his holo-form. His spark ached when he looked down the unconscious form of Kory draped over her beloved friend's dead body.

"Kory," he said softly as he rested a hand on her shoulder. The brown hired teen opened her dark blue eyes slowly and looked up at Ratchet. Before the medic could even say anything, Kory sat up, opened the doors and climbed out of the Search and Rescue Hummer.

"Kory!" Ratchet called as his holo-form climbed out after her.

"Take care of Al," the young woman said in a flat tone as she continued to walk away from the Hummer. The CMO felt his spark break as he watched Kory walk away in such a lifeless manner.

The blue eyed teen simply made her way across the room and sat in a corner of the med bay. There she pulled her knees to her chest, wrapped her arms around them and rested her chin on her knees.

Ratchet sighed and moved the lifeless form of Al from the back. His holo-form laid the young woman's body on the ground and the hologram disappeared. The sound of clicking and whirring gears filled the room as the CMO shifted into his bipedal form. Glancing at Kory, he scanned her quickly and found that she had a few scrapes that needed to be bandaged and a few bruises. Picking Al up, he sat her on a small human sized table and covered her with a sheet. He would deal with her body once he cleaned and bandaged Kory's wounds.

Crossing the room to the young woman he kneeled in front of her and his holo-form flickered to life. The blue eyed teen looked up at the brown haired holo-form and was greeted by a soft smile. Ratchet then started to tend to the small cuts on her arms and face. A few minutes later and he was almost finished patching up Kory when raised voices could be heard right outside the med bay doors.

"_My fault?!_" Ironhide's low voice boomed. "_You're _Decepticon buddies are the ones that did this!" He yelled.

"_You're _the one that wasn't keeping an optic on Kory!" Barricade roared back. "And now _Al's dead!_" Ratchet's energon boiled and his holo-form dissipated. Unlocking the med bay doors they hissed open and he was greeted by the sight of Ironhide and Barricade mere microns from beating the slag out of each other.

"_THAT'S ENOUGH!"_ The medic yelled. Every mech in the room froze under the fragged off CMO's glare.

"Do you two have _any _idea how _Kory _feels?!" He snapped. "Hearing you two argue like this only make it worse!" No sooner had Ratchet said that his audio's picked up on muffled sobs. Ratchet was instantly at the young woman's side.

"Shhhh its ok Kory," the medic said as he tried to calm her down. "Kory!" A five foot tall blur shot out of the med bay and sprinted down the closest hall. Ironhide made a move to chase after her but Ratchet stopped her.

"Leave her alone," the medic said in a sad tone. Ironhide's optics dimmed in sadness as he watched her run down the hall.

"C-Can I see Al?" The black and white mech asked softly. Ratchet's gaze softened at the former Decepticon's request. He nodded and showed him in.

Barricade kneeled beside the table that Al was covered on. His spark ached. Clasping his hands together he rested his forehead on them and closed his optics.

"Is there nothing you can do for her?" He asked in an almost inaudible voice. The CMO rubbed his optics.

"There is," he sighed. Barricade rounded on the medic, eager to hear what it was.

"_But_," Ratchet said firmly. "Its extremely risky and…I can't do it alone. I need the mech that first purposed the idea."

"Who?" The cop car pressed, he would fly all the way back to Cybertron to get them if he had to.

"Wheeljack."

Kory had made countless left and right turns and was now deep within the base. Not only that, she was lost as well. Sniffling, she put her back to the wall, slid down it and pulled her knees to her chest. She still couldn't believe what had just happened. Al was dead, and it was her fault. The stinging of tears came to her eyes and she rested her head on her knees. Kory was so deep in depression that she didn't even hear the sound of an approaching mech.

"Hey," a voice said softly. The young woman's head snapped up and she came face to face with the red Lamborghini twin Sideswipe.

"H-Hey," Kory sniffled as she wiped her face with the heel of her hand.

"Need a lift?" Sideswipe asked with a smile as he rested a hand in front of her. In that bright smile Kory saw Al, and she could never say no to Al. A small smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she climbed into the younger mech's hand.

Sideswipe sat her up on his shoudler, figuring that she'd have a better view from up there then his hand. He had only been walking for a few seconds when he started to hum an old Cybertronian tune. The soft vibrations of Sideswipe's humming slowly relaxed Kory's tired body and she felt her tensed body relax. Feeling this, the red twin smiled.

"Thanks Sides," Kory said softly.

"Anytime," Sideswipe replied softly, a smile gracing his features.

A/N: XD (runs and hides from readers)


	26. Hurt and Alone

**Protector XXVI**

Two weeks had passed since 'the incident' as it was now called. Kory had moved into the base. This was mostly because Optimus, along with a large number of his men, refused to have the young woman live in an apartment that she could barely afford on her small savings. Capitan Lennox invited Kory to live with him and his family but she flat out refused. She didn't want to be a burden to anyone.

Kory woke in a foul mood. She hadn't slept well for the past week and she knew that Ratchet knew, hence why she was avoiding the medic as often as she could and only going to the med bay when she absolutely had to. Sighing, the blue eyed teen rubbed the sleep from her eyes and sat up in her bed, taking in her surroundings.

The room was a comfortable size, about 13 by 13 feet. A small bathroom was attached to her room along with a small walk in closet. The walls were concrete painted a light blue, much like the ones in her old room. On the walls were a few band posters and several random pictures, most of her and Sam. The floor was concrete as well, but was covered with several thick rugs. The night stand next to her bed had two framed pictures on it. One was a picture of her and her dad when she was little and the other was one of her and Al.

Kory forced herself to her feet and staggered into the bathroom. Stripping herself of her pajamas she turned on the water to let it warm up. Stepping into the shower she let the warm water drench her.

A good thirty minutes later, she got out of the shower, wrapped herself in a bath towel and stood in front of the small mirror for a few seconds. Almost all the bruises were gone and the burns on her back from Starscream were healing nicely. As she took in her reflection she realized just how horrible she looked.

The dark circles under her eyes were becoming more and more noticeable with each passing day and her head was starting to look like a shaggy dog. Sighing, she got dressed in her favorite jeans accompanied by a neon green t-shirt and her black sneakers. Grabbing her new laptop, Ironhide had crushed her old one when had been attacked by Barricade and Blackout, and sliding on a black zip-up jacket she headed in the direction of the mess hall.

She was about half way there when she saw Jazz round the corner. She didn't even have to try to get the mech's attention. His scanners instantly picked up on the small human and he stated towards her.

"'Ey short stuff," the silver mech said with a smile. Kory rolled her dark blue eyes at him and climbed into the hand he had offered to her.

"Where you headed to?" The second in command asked as the young woman sat in his hand.

"Mess hall," Kory yawned as she sat the portable computer in her lap.

Once in the mess hall, Jazz sat her down on the raised area that had become a sort of kitchen for her, and Sam and Mikaela when they were around. Yah Mikaela was home, much to Kory's displeasure. It was no big secret that they blue eyed woman hated the brown haired 'model'. Whenever Mikaela was around, Kory disappeared into her room. She did this because she _knew _that if she was around her, she would do something Sam would hate her for. She couldn't afford that, he was the only friend she had left.

Rummaging around in the makeshift kitchen she found a box of granola bars and munched on one. Sitting in one of the stuffed chairs around a small table, she checked her e-mail.

She wasn't surprised when she found that her Inbox was empty. Just another thing that reminded her of just how alone she was. Sighing she crumpled up the wrapper to her 'breakfast' and tossed it in the trash. Having nothing better to do with her time, she decided to go for a walk outside. Leaving her laptop in the kitchen, she started the walk to the main entrance.

Once she was outside she found that the sun was shining. Kory frowned in an irritated manner. She was already in a bitchy mood and the last thing she wanted to deal with was the damn sun frying her. Growling slightly, she rummaged around in her pockets and found her sunglasses. Sliding them on, she strolled down a random dirt path that wound through the woods that surrounded the base.

Kory had been so absorbed in her own thoughts that she didn't even notice an all too familiar black GMC Topkick cruising alongside her.

"Somebody's a ray of sunshine today," Ironhide's gravelly voice said sarcastically, thus snapping Kory out of her trance. Despite her mood, Kory cracked a small smile. Ironhide grinned to himself. He missed the young woman's smile. Ever since Al's death they had become a rarity.

The driver's side door popped open and Kory climbed in. Taking off her strongly tinted sunglasses she savored the cool interior of Ironhide's cab.

"Where to?" He asked through the surrounding speakers.

"Anywhere's fine," Kory said, forcing a smile into her voice. Ironhide knew that something was wrong. However, he decided not to pry. Revving his engine, he headed in the direction of a secluded place in the woods where he could transform and the two of them could talk.

The drive was quiet. Ironhide didn't like it. Not in the slightest.

When the two of them were far enough in the woods to keep the Autobot hidden from prying eyes, Kory got out and Ironhide transformed.

"How is everyone?" She asked, a pathetic attempt at conversation. Ironhide sighed inwardly, knowing very well that she knew that he knew something was wrong.

"They're fine. Bumblebee's with Sam and Mikaela at the beach and everyone else is at the base," he answered. Just as Kory was about to say something else, the mech spoke again.

"What's wrong Kory?" The black mech asked in a softer tone.

"Nothing's wrong!" She snapped back defensively. Ironhide's bright blue optics widened in surprised at her sudden outburst. All the time he knew Kory, the only time he had ever seen her yell was when he met her mother for the first time. This was way out of character. Kory winced at the tone of her voice.

"Its nothing 'Hide, nothing I can't handle," she sighed as she ran her hands through her hair. The black mech frowned and scanned Kory's body. What got the weapon specialists attention was the pain reading in her left forearm. Narrowing his bright blue optics slightly he kneeled beside Kory, activated his hologram and strode up to her.

"Ironhide I told you I'm fine," she said angrily, narrowing her dark blue eyes at the broad shouldered hologram.

"Really?" He said doubtfully. Before Kory could do anything, Ironhide's hand had shot out and wrapped itself tightly around her left forearm, causing Kory to wince slightly. Looking up at the black haired hologram, she narrowed her eyes at him warningly.

"Let. Go," she said through clenched teeth, her eyes flashing dangerously. Ironhide knew that he had crossed the line but like hell he was gonna sit back and let her do this to herself.

"No," he said flatly, his bright blue eyes never leaving hers. Ok, now Kory was pissed. Reeling back, Kory delivered a powerful blow to the holograms right jaw. The holograms head snapped to the side and fuzzed slightly, but the hold on her arm never slackened.

"LET GO OF ME!" Kory yelled as she fought against Ironhide's vice like hold. The enraged teen didn't notice it but the wounds on her arm had reopened and were bleeding. The black haired hologram noticed this and released her arm in fear of causing more damage. Kory darted in the opposite direction of the Autobot not daring to look back.

She didn't get very far until a large metal hand came crashing down in front of her. A growl rumbled in her throat as she turned sharply on her heel and bolted in the direction of the dense trees. This didn't make much difference because the black Autobot simply shifted into his secondary form and quickly caught up to her.

Kory weaved in and out of the large trees in a desperate attempt to get away from the black Autobot. Glancing over her shoulder to see where he was, she was pleased when she didn't see him.

"Kory, look out!" Ironhide yelled. The young woman had just enough time to turn around only to see a large tree coming at her quite fast.

In an attempt to avoid the tree, she spun on her heel only to have the side of her head slam into another tree. _Now I know what a pinball feels like, _she thought as she winced at the pounding in her ears.

Reaching up to the side of her head that had made contact with the tree, she felt something warm leaking between her fingers. Looking at her hand she found that it was covered in blood. Kory's vision blurred around the edges and everything around her started to spin.

Ironhide chose that instant to appear and had just enough time to catch the young woman in his hand before she collapsed onto the ground. Scanning Kory's limp figure he found that she was unconscious and some sort of red liquid was leaking from her head.

"_Ratchet," _he hailed over his com-link.

"_What is it Ironhide?"_ The CMO asked in his usual calm tone.

"_Kory's hurt and needs medical attention."_

"_What's her status?" _The shifting of metal could be heard as Ratchet spoke.

"_She's offline and is leaking some sort of red liquid from her central processing unit." _

"_Do __**not**__ move her," _the medic ordered sternly._ "Apply pressure to her wound until I arrive. ETA one and a half minutes."_

Ironhide activated his hologram and ripped off part of his shirt to staunch the bleeding. It was only when he did this that he noticed the size of the cut on Kory's head. It was about an inch and a half long and was bleeding pretty bad. _Hurry Ratchet._

What felt like ages later, the sound of sirens were heard, accompanied by the sound of shifting metal. The yellow medic emerged through the trees and instantly started to scan Kory's limp figure. He frowned heavily.

"Load her into the back and be careful of her head," the CMO ordered as he shifted into his secondary form and popped open the back doors. The weapons specialist did as he was told and followed closely behind the Search and Rescue Hummer as they made their way down the road.

Kory cracked her dark blue eyes open only to have them assaulted by the bright lights of the med bay. _Great,_ the young woman thought sarcastically. _Just were I wanted to be. _The med bay meant Ratchet, which meant questions. Not something she wanted to deal with at the moment.

The young woman's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Ratchet's footfalls. The yellow medic strode into the room and instantly noticed that Kory was awake. Looking down at the blue eyed teen he smiled slightly and ran a quick scan on her.

"That was quite a nasty hit to the head you took," Ratchet commented as he sat down beside the table that Kory had been sleeping on.

"Heh, yah I guess so," she said sitting up as she rubbed her bandaged head gently, a fake smile on her face. The teen didn't notice it but her left forearm had been completely bandaged. This made the medic's smile fall slightly when he recalled the obviously self inflicted wounds that he had found.

"What?" Kory asked seeing the look on Ratchet's face.

"Kory," he said gently. The blue eyed teen bristled at the tone in his voice. She then noticed the bandages on her arm.

"It's none of your business," Kory snapped at the yellow mech beside her as she grabbed her black jacket and slid it back on. This made Ratchet raise an optic ridge at her.

"Its most certainly _is _my business. Especially when your health is involved," was the medic's response as he picked her up.

"Let go!" Kory yelled as she struggled against the mech's strong hold. Ratchet simply sighed and continued on his way to his quarters, letting her tire herself out.

By the time the two of them arrived at Ratchet's room, the young woman had almost completely exhausted herself. The door to the medic's room slid open and he sat down on his recharge bed, Kory in hand. Opening his hand he sat the blue eyed teen down beside him and let out the human equivalent of a sigh.

"How long has this been going on?" He asked in a monotone voice. Kory clenched her jaw and looked away from the medic. This was a desperate attempt to keep the stinging of tears to a minimum, and to hopefully prevent them from falling.

"Kory," he said softly.

"You wouldn't understand," the blue eyed teen said as evenly as she could, which wasn't very much.

"Try me," Ratchet challenged as he leaned back, his optics never leaving the young woman. There was a weighty pause between the mech and the teen.

"Kory," the CMO sighed. "Everything you say to me is held in confidence." He said as he activated his holo-form. Resting a hand in her shoulder he found that Kory was trembling.

"Have you…have you ever lost someone so close to you…that you felt you'd rather die then live without them?" Kory asked in a soft voice. Ratchet opened his mouth to speak but knew that it would be a lie if he said yes. The medic's pause was all the young woman needed to confirm her suspicions.

"Do you really think that Al would want you to end your own life because of her death?" The brown haired holo-form asked as he turned Kory around so she was facing him. All the blue eyed teen could do was shake her head in reply. Ratchet wanted so bad to tell her that his best friend was on his way to Earth and had a plan to help Al, but he didn't want to get her hopes up incase something went wrong.

The CMO's holo-form disappeared and he rested a hand in front of Kory. Said teen looked up at the yellow mech with tear filled eyes. Ratchet's spark ached to see the young woman in such a state. Lifting a finger he gently brushed away a stray tear that had rolled down her cheek.

"Come on," the medic said softly as he motioned for her to climb into his hand. Upon doing so, Kory sat down and realized just how drained she was. Scanning her quickly, a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth and headed in the direction of her personal quarters.

By the time Ratchet reached the hall where Kory's room was, he looked down at her and found that she was fast asleep. Hailing Ironhide over their com-link he told him to come to Kory's personal quarters.

A few kliks later the black weapons specialist rounded the corner and was just about to say something when he saw Kory asleep in the medic's hands. Ratchet didn't need to say anything. Taking the young woman in his hands, he swore that he would let Kory know that she wasn't as alone as she thought she was.


	27. Sleep and Smile Agian

**Protector pt XXVII**

Kory woke to find that, wherever she was, she was comfortably warm. A soft blanket rubbed against her cheek._ So that's why I'm so comfy._ Half of her debated whether to wake up, or to simply roll back over and go back to sleep. The first half won. Sighing, the brown haired teen reached up and rubbed the sleep from her dark blue eyes. Her hand then trailed to the bandaged that was still on her head and she frowned. _Too bad it wasn't just a messed up dream,_ she thought as she sat up. It took her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim lighting, but when they did she found that she was on the recharge berth in Ironhide's personal quarters. Said mech was sitting at his desk currently engrossed in scanning data pads.

Sitting up the rest of the way, Kory took a moment to take in the battle worn visage of the weapons specialist. Not much of his body could be seen, his black armor blended in with the shadows, but the soft light from the data pad in his hand illuminated the details in his face. Ironhide's optics that was damaged faced the wall so she couldn't make it out. However she could see the various scrapes and small dents in his facial armor along with a few on his chassis. It was strange, Kory sometimes thought, that the two of them were so different and yet they were drawn to each other.

The ancient mech sighed and rubbed his optics tiredly. Leaning back in his chair, it was then that his scanners picked up on, the now awake, Kory. Turning he looked at the small human on his recharge berth and let a small smile grace his normally stern features.

"How's your head?" the black mech ask as he got to his feet and made his way over to where she was sitting.

"It's ok," she said softly. "I'm sorry about…you know what happened earlier." Ironhide sat on the berth, making sure to be careful of Kory, and sighed.

"Why would you cause yourself physical harm because of someone's death?" he asked in a slightly soft tone. The blue eyed teen flinched slightly at the question and she instinctively reached for her bandaged arm.

"It's…hard to explain," she said after a pause. "It's almost like…the physical pain helps me deal with the emotional pain." The young woman said, struggling to find the right words. Ironhide thought about this but still didn't understand.

"I fail to see how that would help," the black mech said lowly as he moved onto the berth more and laid on his side, resting his helm in one hand.

"Like I said, it's hard to explain," Kory said with a sigh as she leaned against the hulking black mech's arm that was holding up his head. Ironhide's optics dimmed slightly at the sad tone in her voice.

"It's late, you should get some rest," he said as he, carefully, moved to lie on his back.

"'Hide I just woke up from a four hour nap," the blue eyed teen said with a 'you've-got-to-be-kidding-me' expression. The look on the young woman's face caused a small smile to tug at the corner of his mouth.

"Then how about I tell you a story?" the weapons specialist ventured. Kory turned to him and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm a little old for bedtime stories Ironhide," she said with a small laugh. "But I guess that's not going to stop you from telling it is it?" The answer Kory got was the weapons specialist moving the hand that had been propping head up and offering it for her to climb into. Accepting the invitation she clung to one of his large fingers as he rolled onto his back and got himself comfortable. Upon doing so he rested her on his chassis right over his spark, but not before handing her the blanket that she had been using earlier. Kory wrapped the blanket around herself and curled up on the warm armor that protected the old mech's powerful spark.

As the black mech began his story, Kory couldn't help but smile slightly. Ever since the first day they met she couldn't help but feel safe around him. The blue eyed teen's eyelids started to droop and she let them close, completely content listening to Ironhide's deep gravelly voice wash over her.

Ironhide wasn't surprised when Kory fell asleep a little over a breem into the story. A small smile spread across the old mech's face as he gently ran a finger down the young woman's back lovingly. Focusing his optics on her he found that she had a small smile on her face as she slept. Ironhide longed to see his Kory smile more and he hoped that whatever Ratchet and Wheeljack were planning would help with that.

Ratchet contacted the scientist shortly after 'the incident' had happened. The grey and white mech gave the CMO a long detailed list of supplies that he would need and what preparations needed to be made. Barricade and Ratchet had been making a lot of trips out to abandoned scrap yards and to the military base that was close by.

Originally, Ratchet didn't want the former Decepticon's help on the project. That was until he saw just how depressed the black and white mech was. Knowing an idle processor is a dangerous processor, he decided to let the cop car help him.

The old mech let out a sigh and rested his hand over the young woman to keep her warm, even though she had a blanket. Leaning his head back he then shuttered his optics and shut down for the night, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.

Ironhide's internal alarm went off at 7:30 the next morning. On lining his optics he was surprised to find that Kory was already awake and was entertaining herself by examining one of his hands. Her touches were soft, almost hesitant, so unlike the firm and sometimes irritated hands of the Autobot CMO Ratchet. Not making any outwardly noticeable signals that he was awake, he let her continue.

Despite living with the Autobots and being around them every day, the young woman never really had the chance to truly _look _at any of them. It blew her mind how humanoid they were and yet so alien at the same time. She was particularly interested in their hands, mostly because that was how she was carried by most of them.

Ironhide was content to let Kory continued to examine his hand, he could use a few more breems of recharge, but he received a personal message from Optimus. Upon further inspection he found that it had also been sent to the rest of the Autobot's on base. It was a short message saying that Wheeljack was to arrive in approximately two cycles and listed the coordinates of where the inventor would be landing. The black mech sighed inwardly. _So much for some spending some time together_, he thought as he turned the rest of his minor systems on.

The soft hum of the rest of his systems booting up, alerted Kory that the weapons specialist was coming online. Ceasing her examination of his hand, she got to her feet and ran her hands through her hair as she stretched her back. As soon as she had woken up she removed the bandages Ratchet had meticulously wrapped around her head so only a few butterfly clips were there.

"Morning sleepy head," the blue eyed woman said with a small smile as she watched Ironhide prop himself up on one elbow.

"You been awake long?" he asked.

"Long enough," she replied with a grin. Ironhide rolled his optics at her and got up from his berth, stretching his stiff joints once standing. This caused Kory to let out a small laugh. When the weapons specialist looked over his shoudler and raised an optic ridge at the blue eyed teen, she smiled widely. It had been far too long since he had seen her smile like that.

"You sound like an old man," was her simple response. The old warrior rolled his optics at her and offered his hand for her to climb into.

"Better then being a youngling like you," he retorted with a small smirk as the young woman climbed into his hand. Kory snorted in response.

"You know you love me," was her quick reply.

"That I do," Ironhide replied softly as the two of them made their way down the hall to Kory's room so she could change into some clean clothes.

(A/N: -is shot by the readers- yah yah I know lame chapter is lame and I haven't updated in YEARS, but life was being a little bitch and my muse just decided to die in a corner suddenly, fun stuff. But YES this story IS ongoing just…very VERY slowly)


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